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1900 
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dedicated to a. P. flegbl 

AS A TOKEN OF FRIENDSHIP 



PORTLAND, OREGON 

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89516 



Library of Congre*a 

Two Copies Received 
DEC 171900 

Copyright entry 

SECOND COPY 

OeJiwrod to 

ORDER DIVISION 
DFC P.I IQnil 






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COPYRIGHT, 1900, 

BY 

VALENTINE BROWN. 



INDEX. 



Song of the Soul 294 

The Triumph of Life 308 

The Skull 1 

Ge-Aidenn 147 

The Demon of the Cavern 128 

Soliloquy. 122 

Zamna 205 

War of the. Ants and Fire-Flies 224 

In Southern Lands " 270 



Is This Life a Dream 6 

In the Mind's Domain 13 

Light of Our Swift Flight 92 

Earthly Joys no 

Like a Pebble in a Wave 193 

Few Will and Do 198 

The Wave of Life 195 

The Deep Still Sea 24 

Measure by the Calms and Gales 12 

The Mind's Painting 40 

Work To-Dav 85 

I Feel for Thee 184 

Deeds Sublime 266 

Youth. . 88 

Like Memories of a Dream 23 

From Immemmorial Time 48 

Fame Like a Cliff. 49 

At a Noontide's Lull 52 

Fantasma 10 r 

To Time 107 

Might and Right 176 



4 INDEX. 

Drifting Sands — 

The Anchor Chains are Broken 55 

Speed Thou, America 56 

I Heard a low Knell .. 56 

Toll the Slow Bell 56 

Honor the Soldiers Brave 57 

Hear the Drum-Beat 58 

Cherish the Hour of War 59 

Unto Thee, Beautiful 59 

Water the True Vine 60 

Song of the Healthful Glow 61 

Speed, Ye Merry Wheels 61 

Strike a new Chord 62 

Man, Behold thy Hour.. 63 

Roll on, O Sea 64 

Seraphs no Voice have as Sweet .... 65 

Moves a huge Cylinder 66 

The Chant of the Wreck 67 

Beautiful Music to me 68 

Sing the Rage of the Ocean 69 

Opiate Hues of Gloaming 70 

Song of the Mountain 71 

Soul of the Nation 72 

Beauty of the World 73 

Song of the Dying Fir 74 

To-Day 75 

1 Live for Thee 76 

Song of the Corner Stone 77 

To Darkness Forever 79 

The Good Ship 80 

Miscellaneous. 

Rose of my Heart 7 

My Brier Sweet 13 

Beacon of my Love 21 

I will Kiss my Love to Sleep 29 

Where the Orange Trees Flower 46 

Rest my Love Upon my Arm 50 

Rose of the Bramble Hill 18 



INDEX. 5 

Without Thee, my Love 103 

I wait for Thee 170 

The Haven of Sweet Dreams 175 

When Thou art Mine 190 

A Boat of Red, Red Leaves 243 

I Think of Thee 257 

Thou Light of my Heart 246 

The Painting in the Lake 333 

A Nereid by the Sea 51 

The Love Laden Maiden 259 

Zeola 53 



Oregon 238 

Ode to Mount Hood 82 

Willamette 305 

Brooks of Oregon 89 

Ode to the Columbia River 95 

AtCanby Light 38 

Wilds of Oregon 323 

Westward Ho 261 

Ode to the Clackamas River 201 

Spring water's Stream , 28 

Spirit Lake 187 

Sunset in Alaska 202 

Indian Rock 251 

Night on the River 244 



The City of Noll 33 

The Measuring Bowl 32 

Dance of the Ghouls 118 

The Angel's Dream 166 

The Lost Soul 247 

The City of Night 252 

In a Land of Dreams 240 

In a Boat of Cloud 245 

Endless Hours 9 

Babe of the Moon 113 

Song of the Nereids 179 



INDEX. 



An Angel's Glimpse of Earth 264 

Spirit Flowers 31 



The Drifting Buoy.. 14 

Song of the Fog Horn 17 

The Fisherman 328 

On Ocean's Strand 332 

Song of the Wilds 327 

The Hermet's Cove 254 

The Fisherman's Last Drift 267 

vSong of the Light House 84 

The Sea Shell 191 

The Storm ; 196 

Song of the Light Ship. '. 93 

The Strife of Life 293 

My Seaside Home 249 

Song of the Ocean Grove 258 

Song of the Surf Boat 99 



The Frog 321 

The Dying Fawn 330 

Adown the Path of Life 17 r 

Upon the Lonely Shore 178 

Weep Not for Me 203 

Voices from a Deep 109 

L T pon the Way 19 

Where Stars Illume 20 

Sunny Beings 30 

How Changed Things are to Me 233 

As Sunset to the Sea 104 

Dance of the Leaves '. 105 

How Pleasant are the Shaded Lanes 146 

In Nature's Realm 169 

Raindrops 174 

The World Moves On. 325 

Revery in 

Thought 222 

Honor 223 

Youth's Happy Hour is Past 188 



INDEX. 7 

The Blackbird and the Owl 186 

Starlight Bevond 27 

The Wind's Dark Steed 189 

Night 235 

Elegy on the Grave of a Tramp 1 16 

His Brother 43 

We Buried our Comrade 46 

Number "9" 49 

The Lone Grave 324 

Life's Elegy 121 



For Weary Feet 8 

Death's Defeat 36 

My Soul would Leap the Waters 42 

Upon the Shoreless Sea 47 

Thought Born of Love 51 

Where Thorns can never Mock 86 

Deed and Word 94 

There is a God 97 

The Shell of Form 108 

Why we are Here 169 

Gladness Cast 182 

When the Clouds are Rifted 183 

The Leaflet from the Cluster 193 

Fair is the Morn 194 

Gen tie Sleep 200 

The Laodician 221 

Wake from Thy Slumber 222 

Rebuking of the Sea ... 234 

Caper n aum 236 

On Olivet 241 

Beauty Meets us Everywhere 250 

Love and Life can Never Die 256 

Gennesaret 306 

Havens of the Memory 91 

If We Say not Nay 332 



8 INDK^, 

Some are Trained to Bridles Hold. :....** 25 

The Road of Life * 22 

A Child's Paradise 16 

Who Little Thinks . 25 

A Nation Drunk with Triumph's Wine 26 

Labor's Recompense 27 

A Breakless Chain * $1 

If Thunders Ruled « 37 

Blood Red and Blue. . 42 

The Fruits of Toil 45 

We Fall or Rise .. 87 

A Will-o-Wisp 87 

Lines on a Proclamation 41 

To Jane..... 15 

To Jane 35 

To Valentine 263 

To Helen......,, ,,.., 44 



THE SKULL. 



Once I did wander, pondering, watching the ocean 
Moonlit and sparkling, onward in crisping waves roll, 
Rolling anear me, chanting a strange devotion 
Unto a being — chanting a song to my soul ; 
Pausing, I listened: Was it the moonlight only, 
Blended with shadows, trailing my footsteps lonely ? 
With the mad billows singing sweet music to me? 
Came a low answer: " Stranger, spirits are we. " 

ii. 
Softly, weirdly rising and falling before me, 
Mingling with tintings of crystal, silver and gold, 
Forms in the veilings of moonlight and star gleamings 

o'er me, 
Danced on the waters — waters so sullenly cold. 
Changed the sweet music: Gurglings discordant, 

abhorrent, 
Moving upon me, seemed like the roar of a torrent; 
Turning, I uttered: " Leave me, let me be free ! " 
Then they did answer: " Stranger, demons are we. " 

in. 
%t Never ! never ! " I whispered: " Onty the moaning 
" Night wind around me, hiding, flees to the grove. 
" Only the waters billows on billows enthroning, 
*' Surging, dashing, follow my steps where I rove." 
Over the billows hastened a form, and before me 
Standing, grinning, a giant in massiveness o'er me, 
Waited a being, till fearful, with trembling I be, 
Then he with madness did utter: u Stranger, O flee ! " 



2 the: skuu,. 

IV. 

Palsied, my limbs would obey not; whirling, raging, 
Thoughts in my brain confusedly fled from the scene ; 
Blank was the moment; blank, till my terror assuaging, 
Calmed me. I looked — looked on that giant serene; 
Bones, only bones misjointed, a skeleton grinning, 
Ghastly, distorted, yet, unto my being so winning, 
Firmly I questioned, " Stranger, wouldst thou of me ? • * 
Then he with sadness did answer: " Brothers are we. " 

v. 

11 Art thou a demon ? " I questioned: " Never, never 
" Am I a brother, am I a kindred of null. " 
Smiling, beseeching, murmuring " Kver, forever, " 
Down at my feet in the sand he planted a skull; 
Planted it — Only the eye holes above the sand gazing, 
Gazing from darkness to darkness intently, upraising 
Eyes which did see not, sadly were rested on me; 
Mutely expressive, they uttered: " Hearest thou me ? " 

VI. 

Strangest emotions did move me. Could the skull lying 
Cold with the waters, buried in sea weed and sand, 
Speak to me ? Truly — quickly my being replying, 
Kneeling I waited — waited the voice of the strand. 
Swiftly the demon fled on the billows of ocean, 
Moonlight and shadow chanted a mournful devotion, 
Yet, I did hear not; only that skull by the sea 
Gazing from darkness, whispered, " Hearest thou me ? ' ' 

VII. 

Softly, gently shutters apparently lifted 
From the dark windows, opened that portal of night; 
Like unto morning, flowing through vapors when rifted, 
Each of the eye holes yielded a tremulous light; 



THE SKUI.lv. 3 

Light of a region hidden from mortals was flowing, 
Flowing upon me, quickly the streamlets were glowing 
Ruddy and brightly, weirdly appearing to me; 
Pondering greatly, I uttered: " Wouldst thou of me ? " 

VIII. 

Still was the voicing a moment; only the beating 
Heart in my bosom smote on the walls that enclose; 
Into my being each of those rivers were meeting, 
Searching my soul, chilling my blood till it froze; 
Then in my madness, I shouted: " Demon, O leave me ! 
" Art thou to haunt me, worry, ever to grieve me ? 
"Back to thy kingdom O hasten ! Let me be free ! " 
But it did answer: " Brother, hearest thou me ? " 

IX. 

Pausing, I listened. Notes in soft cadence were gliding, 
Rising and falling around me, sweet to my ear; 
Was it a dreamer of the world hidden, abiding 
There but a moment, held by a r every dear ? 
Making that gruesome, tenantless mansion, a haunted 
Place for the muses unearthly ? or else, all undaunted 
By the lone stillness, a wanderer over the sea 
Dark and ethereal, musing, singing to me ? 



Was it a brother ? kindred of mine ? or a spirit, 
Wayward, capricious, seeking adventure, delight, 
Where a lone human, unthinking, might see it, and 

fear it, 
Flee for protection away from the shadows of night ? 
Firmly I answered: " Think not I fear thee, though 

surely 
* ' All that is evil loiters in darkness obscurely ; 



4 THE SKUU,. 

" Speak to me, creature ! Why art thou here by the sea? ' 
Then it did utter: " Brother, look upon me. " 

XI. 

Fled the red glitter; darkness and silence were near it, 
There was a skull, a creation, forsaken and lone; 
Sadly my gaze was upon it. Where was the spirit 
Lighting that castaway, wave beaten temple of bone ? 
Dark were the portals, cold in the sand it was lying, 
There with the sea weed, pebbles and ocean shells 

vieing — 
Vieing for worms to inhabit it — Then unto me 
Grimly, the demon appearing, uttered: " O flee ! " 

XII. 

Firmly I answered; " Leave thy decaying possession, 
" Freely, noncaring I meet thee, if only an hour 
" I with this skull in communion, may hear its 

confession, 
" Mark thy dominion, solve as a problem thy power; " 
Then, with the saying, I unto the skeleton glancing, 
Marked the mad glaring; Fiercely upon me advancing, 
Shouted the demon: " Stranger, never of me 
" Speakest my kingdom — guardian of it I will be. " 

XIII. 

Calmly I answered: " Has it not spoken more plainly 
" Than thy wild ranting ? Phantom, wraith of a deep 
" Shoreless, boundless, truly I question thee vainly ! 
" Leave me a moment — cease from thy vigil to keep ! 
"Surely for me this fallen creation was lighted 
' ' Strangely to guide me over a region benighted : ' ' 
Pausing a moment, pondering, looking at me 
Weirdly persuasive, the demon did utter: " O flee ! " 



THE SKUI.I,. 5 

XIV. 

" I will not hearken, " I answered; " By this shore 

lonely, 
"Dark with the vapors wafted from Hadean land, 
" Softly, sweetly, a voicing comes to me only — 
" Only to me o'er the billows " — I knelt on the strand 
Where the pale skull in the moonbeams coldly did 

glimmer, 
Lighted by gleamings unearthly, brighter, or dimmer, 
With the cloud riftings drifting by over the sea; 
Gently there kneeling, I uttered: " Speak unto me. " 

xv. 
Calmly I waited, waited some spirit's appearing 
From a fair haven over an ocean of night, 
Like a swift shallop guided by wind and tide, veering, 
Speeding anear me on its trim pinions of light; 
Vainly ! vainly ! death had enchained it — upraising, 
Cried I defiant: " Demon, subdue thy mad gazing ! 
" Leave me ! O leave me ! I and this skull by the sea: " 
Smiling, he answered: " Brother, I'm waiting for thee. " 

XVI. 

" Waiting for thee ! " On his last words I did ponder; 

Was it my portion to be as the skull at my feet ? 

" Demon, " I uttered: " Everything unto me fonder 

" Comes to my presence — tell me we never shall meet; 

" Tell me thy kingdom cherishes naught which is in me, 

" Death is no part of my being, never to win me; 

" Leave me ! O leave me ! Flee to thy home in the sea ! " 

But he did answer: " Brother, I'm waiting for thee. " 

XVII. 

Ghastly, grinning, the skeleton jointed being 
Towering above me, looked at the skull on the strand; 



6 IS THIS IvIFK A DREAM, 

Palsied, chilling, I felt that my spirit was fleeing; 
But the fell demon left me where I did stand — 
Left me, and hastened unto the billowy ocean; 
Strangely and softly came a low mournful devotion r 
Like a sea spirit chanting a triumph to me ; 
Yet r as I listened, it uttered: " I'm waiting for thee. ' 



IS THIS LIFE A DREAM, 

Is this earthly life a dream. ? 

But a dream ? 

Is that mystic soul of ours 

Wandering by the banks and bowers 

Like a stream— but a dream ? 

Will it like a river flow 
Soft and low, 

Till it finds a soothing deep, 
There to sleep — ever sleep — 
Never in its home to know 
Weal or woe ? 

Ah, thislife is not a dream; 

Not a dream; 

Though the soul will darkness meet, 

And the heart's last feeble beat 

Ends the theme. 

Ah, this earthly life is real,, 
Truly real; 



ROSK OF MY HKART, 

Building by incessant strife 
Fairer life — purer life, 
Slowly building on the earth 
Lasting worth. 

Earthly Aidenn's sapphire towers 

Are not ours; 

Heaven's dominion strewn with flowers 

May be ours — sweetly ours; 

Yet on Karth some future time 

Will arise a life sublime, 

And the palaces to be 

Man will see. 



ROSE OF MY HEART. 

Rose of my heart, to thee 
This leaf repeats — thou art my love; 
The ruby of thy lips, 
The starlight in thy eyes, 
The smile and fond caress 
With which thou greetest me, repeat — 
Thou art my love. 

Rose of my heart, the storm 
And distance fkr are naught to love ; 
Though clouds may robe the sky, 
Though tempests sweep the sea 
And thou art far away — 

Though death should come between — all these 
Are naught to love. 



FOR WEARY FKET* 

The mora and noon and night 
Will softly speak — thou art my love, 
If thou wilt kiss my lips, 
If thy arms will me enfold; 
Thy bosom's gentlest swell 
Will tell to me the hour we meet, 
Thou art my love. 

I live, fair one, to-day; 
I dwell in thee — be mine, my love; 
The morn will happy be, 
The evening ever dear, 
And starlight glancing down 
Will guard our couch from prying eyes- 
Be mine, my love. 



FOR WEARY FEET. 

As the stars are to the night, 

God's love is unto me; 
Like the moon's translucent light 

Upon the briny sea, 
His presence makes the bitter seem 
Unreal to me. 

As a tree is to the plain 
, A shelter ever sweet, 
As a flower upon the lane 

Makes brighter its retreat, 
God's presence paves a gentler path 
For weary feet. 



ENDLESS HOURS. 

ENDLESS HOURS. 



On a mountain way, or near it, 
Over ledge and cliff and dune, 
Like a disembodied spirit 
I did wander 'neath the moon; 
There the fields of white were nearing, 
And the shadows dark appearing, 
Rose and fell before me, o'er me, 
Then a sweet, yet, plaintive tune 
Seemed a rune — seemed a rune 
Which set my heart a fearing, 
As I startled, paused and listened to the tune, 

ii. 
'Twas a Stygian desolation 
Where my feet did sorely tread, 
Though the seas of devastation 
By the moonlit streams were fed ; 
For the moans and groans around me 
Of the glaciers did confound me, 
And the cliffsides towering, lowering, 
Seemed the charnels of the dead; 
Of the dead — of the dead, 
Till the voice, which held and bound me, 
Hushed each other note to silence as it plead. 

in. 

From the darkness of the hollow 
Where the moonlight never strayed, 
Came the notes I could not follow — 
That charmed, yet, made afraid; 
There was singing, sweetest singing, 



IO ENDLESS HOURS. 

And the heavenly chords were ringing 
For a lover to discover, 
That did my soul persuade 
They were made — they were made 
By an angel chorus bringing 
Dearest tokens of dominions o'er the shade. 

IV. 

Then, approaching nearer, nearer, 
I must feel a chill of fear; 
Truly earthly cold was dearer 
Than a chasm yawning near;' 
Ah, the voicing was undoubted 
Of the demons, and I shouted: 
" 'Tis the devil in a revel, 
1 ' Can I cross that chasm drear 
' ' Without fear ?— without fear ? ' ' 
Other souls than mine are routed 

By the flitting of the airy phantoms near, 
v. 
Still, the song unto my being 
Was repeating perfect time ; 
Nevermore I thought of fleeing; 
I would seek a fairer clime; 
Though between us waves were flowing 
On an ocean wide — unknowing 
Path or guiding, safely gliding, 
I would reach a place sublime, 
Where the time is not time — 
Where everness is strowing 

Endless hours, sweetest flowers, joys divine. 

VI. 

As I gazed, the shadows screening 



ENDLESS HOURS, II 

The shores beyond did hide, 
On the moonlight intervening 
Did a silvery billow glide, 
And a form of one immortal 
Crossed o'er the opened portal, 
To meet me, and greet me, 
And lead me to her side — 
At her side to abide, 
And nevermore to startle, 
For the demons were but phantoms of the tide. 

VII. 

The warmness of her presence 
Was a garment to my soul, 
A sweet and heavenly essence 
Brushed away the sullen roll 
Of the waves of night before me, 
For her beauty did restore me — 
At her guiding — safely gliding, 
I reached the nearing goal — 
The goal of the soul, 
With its morning rising o'er me, 
Orient gleaming on the haven of the soul. 

VIII. 

My feet are on the mountain, 

But my soul is far away, 

It is drinking at the fountain 

Of the bright eternal day; 

And the cold and night around me 

Will nevermore confound me, 

Though a glacial world is groaning, 

Is moaning night and day; 



12 MEASURE BY THE CAI.MS AND GAINES. 

Though the day is to-day 
The billows dark surround me, 
Endless hours are the bowers of the way. 



MEASURE BY THE CALMS AND GALES. 

Is success the measure true 

Measuring you ? 
If a field of ripening grain 
Molds beneath a summer rain, 
And no harvest thou wilt find — 

Bear in mind 
It is not a measure true 

Measuring you. 

Is success the only weight 

We create? 
He who faithful is to-day, 
Has within his heart the pay, 
Though his harvest is the mold 

And not gold; 
Think not they are never great 

Who may wait. 

If a gallant vessel sails 

In the gales, 
Though by seamen bold 'tis manned, 
And will guide a skillful hand, 
It may yield before the stress — 

Ah, success, 
Measure by the calms and gales 

He who fails. 



IN THE MIND'S DOMAIN. 1 3 

MY BRIER SWEET. 

My love, my own, my Brier Sweet, 

A thorn is in my heart, 
Unless, thy lips with mine will meet 

Before we part — we part, 
And know my heart will sometime beat 

On thine — and mine thou art. 

O Brier Sweet, thy words are thorns, 

Yet, glances from thine eyes 
Will charm me with a light, which scorns 

The violet of the skies; 
Will soothe me as each glance adorns 

Thy beauty — yet denies. 

My own, my love, my Brier Sweet, 

My lips meet thine to-night, 
And we will speed to a fair retreat, 

Where thy eyes will be my light, 
And thy heart on mine will ever beat — 

Thy smiles be my delight. 



IN THE MIND'S DOMAIN. 

In a fair domain is an ocean wrought 

More fine than the woof of cloud or air, 

And the mind will speed on the wings of thought, 

And sail on the lightsome billows there. 



14 THE DRIFTING BUOY. 

Like a lark which sings as it upward soars, 

The mind will carol a glad adieu, 

And the notes which sound on the star flecked shores 

Are the echoes fair to the music new. 

There the star flecked shores are a dream of pearl, 
Where the poet roams with the blithesome Hours; 
There the sage, like a ship in port, will furl 
His wearied wings in the coral bowers. 

There the artist finds a sweet delight 

In the mazy hues of the crisping seas, 

And the dulcet waves of the star gleams bright 

Form the great composer's harmonies. 



THE DRIFTING BUOY. 

On the wide ocean floats a bell buoy, 

Drifting away — rifted for aye; 

I see the dark form rolling, 

I hear the deep voice tolling — 

Over the sea, weird and unearthly 

Float the sad notes unto me; 

Clanging, tolling, moaning, 

Over the sea come the strange notes unto me. 

Seeming a wraith daring the tempest, 
Doling alarm, drifts the strange form; 
The sea birds flee the wailing, 
The mariner's cheek is paling — 
On the dark sea wild and unuttered 



UNKS. 15 

Sadness strangely will be; 

Sounding, clanking, wailing, 

On the mad sea demons of darkness will be. 

Like a lost being fleeing forever, 
By the stern blast on shore it is cast; 
The gray sands pile around it, 
The desert waste has bound it — 
Silent to be, ever, forever, 
Is the sad voice on the sea; 
Useless, rifted, broken, 
Castaway ever to be — 
Like a soul which is lost forever — 
Like a mariner drowned in the sea. 



TO JANE— 

If a seraph's form was molded 
In divinest mortal clay, 
Venus had from envy scolded; 
Psyche hid her charms away; 
But a seraph came, and uttered: 
" Life, awake, and be like me; " 
Though the heavenly beauties muttered, 
They beheld that form in thee. 

Thy bright eyes, like Hesper's splendor 
Dim the light of other stars, 
Thy two lips, with accents tender 
Rouse the hearts to fiercest wars; 
Lofty mind and graceful presence, 



l6 A CHILD'S PARADISE. 

Blended, mingled, form in thee 
Beauty of the purer essence 
Found where only angels be. 

I am chained with golden pinions,, 
With the eloquence of thy mien; 
I would be in thy dominions 
Slave to thee — to thee, my queen ; 
Like a bee among the flowers, 
I would sip thy sweets for aye, 
Like a bird among the bowers, 
Thou wouldst sing my soul away. 



A CHILD'S PARADISE. 

To theorize and never tire 
Is pleasant way to squander time ; 
The wife may build the morning fire, 
The husband dream of worlds sublime : 

Yet, all Utopian minded must 
See treasures fading in a trice — 
Where man beholds a pile of dust 
The child will find a paradise. 

The sure effect produced from cause 
Rules worlds and stars and brains and trash- 
The broken frame exposes flaws ; 
From poison oak we get a rash. 



SONG OF THE FOG HORN, 1 7 

SONG OF THE} FOG HORN. 

"Hard alee! Hard alee!" 
From the wave beat rock I boldly call 

To the vessels on the sea; 
I sound the alarm with the bell buoy's toll, 
My voice is hoarse when the vapors roll, 

As I utter: " Hard alee ! " 

The helmsman on the good sMp hears 

My timely warning hail, 
With the helm hard down, he boldly steers 

In the teeth of the rising gale ; 
The white sails flap with a thunder clap, 

As she swings on the tack asea, 
And the seamen shout as she puts about, 

Their answer: " Hard alee ! " 

' ' Wear away ! Wear away ! ' ' 
From the sea bound rock I boldly shout 

To the vessels when estray; 
I pierce the fog and the storm wind cloud, 
My voice is heard o'er the breakers loud 

With my warning : ' ' Wear away ! ' ' 

The lookout on the good ship knows 

I tell of the dangers by, 
The green light dims and the red light glows, 

For she swings on the billows high ; 
The white sails fill with the tempest shrill, 

As she cleaves the foam and spray, 
And the voicings ring, as the sailors sing 

Their answer: " Wear away ! " 



18 rose; of the brambl,e hiu,. 

I give my watch to the bell buoy's moan 

If the hours of the day are bright, 
And the light house flash, or the light ship lone, 

May take my place at night; 
But my shouts will make the echoes break 

From the coves and the cliffsides high, 
When the fog bank's grey, or the storm wind's sway 

Will roll on the darkened sky. 



ROSK OF THE BRAMBLE HILL. 

Rose of the Bramble hill, 
Let the sunshine kiss thy ruddy lips, 

It smiles on thee: 
Fair as a morn of spring thou art, 
When the clouds cast tinted rain, 
And the zephyr pauses, with the sun 

To smile on thee. 

Thorns of the Bramble hill, 
Behold the glow upon her lips 

Not there for thee; 
Dark as the murky haze thou art, 
When the fire winds sweep the dale; 
And youth and love and sweets her own, 

Are not for thee. 

Ah, she is mine, mine ever, 
When in her bower I 'm clasping 

Her close to me, 
And the whirls which near are roving, 
And the twilight and the shadows, 



UPON THE WAY. 19 

Will pause, and whisper: " Listen ! " 
So close to me. 

Rose of the Bramble hill, 
Could the sweetness of thy fragrant breath 

More charming be ? 
Pair as a sunset hour thou art, 
When sea and land and heaven glow, 
And dream comes o 'er me — could a dream 
More charming be ? 

O thou art mine, sweet treasure, 
For the voicings near us utter, 

" Thou lovest me. " 
And my life with thine is roving, 
It lives, it dies, it slumbers 
With thee — I wait thy whisper — 

11 Thou lovest me. " 



UPON THE WAY. 



Wealth, alike a vision fair, 

Came to me, and uttered he, 
" Wouldst thou of my treasures share ? 
< ' Wouldst thou in my halls repair ? ' ' 
And I answered : * ' There with thee 
"I would be. " 

Fame, en wreathed with many a gem, 

Passed me by; I heard the cry, 
"" Robed in gold, a diadem 
" On thy head — be one of them; " 



20 WHKRE STARS II^IvUMK. 

And I said, with oft a sigh — 
"Pass not by. '.' 

Pleasure, with a festive train, 
Came along, and her song, 
"Come, forget thy care and pain; " 
Seemed an ever glad refrain, 
And I said : "I would belong 
"To thy throng." 

Then, Contentment, blithesome, free, 

Pure and sweet, I did meet, 
Garland decked from hill and lea; 
And she uttered, " Stray with me; " 
Then I lowly bowed to greet 
One so sweet. 

As the quickening feet did glide, 

With the fall, I heard the call, 
" Stranger, choose — an ebbing tide 
" Bears thee to an ocean wide; " 
And I answered to the call — 
" I choose them all. " 

Then, a being old and hoar, 

Came the way, and he did say, 
" Stranger, look thy path before, 
" They are gone forevermore; 
1 ' Like to them this very day— 
' ' Thou art for aye. ' ' 



WHERE STARS ILLUME. 

We justice love and truth admire, 
We mercy win, and wrongs forget, 



BKACON OF MY I<OVK. 21 

We grant to others our desire, 
If peace of God is with us yet. 

The symmetry in nature's sphere, 
The beautiful in art and mind, 
And thoughts which genius brings anear, 
Are ours, if we will blessings find. 

Ah, prejudice and error gone, 

Leave courage, cheerfulness and weal, 

And warmth of tenderness anon 

Melts hearts which did not mercy feel ; 

New truths arise, the old remain, 
And fallacies to darkness flee; 
We know each cloud will melt in rain, 
And sullen skies will stainless be; 

Who looks with fear upon the gloom , 
May tremble in a coward's dream; 
Who seeks beyond, where stars illume, 
Finds love and truth and peace supreme. 



BKACON OF MY LOVE. 

There's a guardian spirit near thee, 

Near thee ever — near thee ever, 
It will alway come to cheer thee 

On the deep ; 
For thou sailest — ah, thou sailest 
Where a wide deep ocean wailest, 
And my spirit is a star upon the deep. 



22 THE ROAD OF UFE. 

Yes, a light is brightly burning, 

Burning ever — dimming never — 
It is waiting thy returning 

From the deep; 
And thy spirit it will braven 
As it guides thee to the haven — 
To the haven of my love upon the deep. 

And the star gleams shining o'er thee, 
See before thee — just before thee, 
The beacon of my love upon the deep; 
Thou its tender light obeyest, 
And thy shallop anchor weighest, 
In the haven of my love to gently sleep- 
On the bosom of my love to ever sleep. 



THE ROAD OF LIFE. 

There is a road which all will find, 
That road is Life; yet, many ways 
Like narrow lanes across it wind, 
And each are numbered like the days; 

And still minuter by-paths lead 
Around it through the clefts and bowers; 
We may not pause these paths to heed, 
Yet, they are numbered like the hours. 

Some men will drift like leaves astream, 
Some rush like waves upon a shore, 
Some like the winds, in restless dream 
Sigh through the trees the by-paths o'er. 



UKE MEMORIES OF A DREAM. 23 

Few find the path, until it ends 
Anear a hidden precipice, 
And as the steep to darkness wends, 
They say — the road of Life is this. 

' Tis folly true — the way we tread 
Is formed of by-path and of lane, 
Where we are guided or misled 
To footprints new which lead again. 

Thus on we drift, or stray, or rush, 
Until a deep abyss is near; 
Above the gloom may be the blush 
Of morning rising fair and clear; 

Above the gloom may be a cloud, 
Which lingers o'er the path behind, 
And lowers like a sullen shroud 
Across the chasm all will find. 



LIKE MEMORIES OF A DREAM. 

Like memories of a dream 

Is time so swiftly past; 
Like some sweet treasured theme 
Of life, that wanes at last, 
There fades within the darkening haze 
A picture which would hold our gaze, 

Yet, one glance backward cast 
May ask us live our life again, 
Or bid us die — for all is vain. 



24 THB DKEP STIIJ, SKA. 

Like wavering light and shade 

Is time so quickly gone; 
Like some sequestered glade 

Which the moonlight shines upon, 
Is revery — our longing eyes 
See forms within the vining's guise, 

Which come and fade anon — 
Sweet spirits of the flowers dead, 
How oft our thoughts to thee have fled. 



THE DEEP STILL SEA. 

The deep still sea is a world of night, 
Where myriads roam in the grottoes lorn ; 
The mortal strife is a sole delight 
In the liquid rays of the coral morn. 

In vain will our sun meet the crisping wave, 
The mirrored sea stars dark will be; 
The bird looks down on a sullen grave, 
Then soars away like a spirit free. 

The air we breathe, to the spirits real 
Is a sea as dark as the briny stream, 
While their stars no fairer light reveal 
Than our mirrored sea star's upward gleam; 

The purer air of Heaven's domain 
Is as light as the sunset's golden ray, 
And the freed soul gazes down in vain, 
As we gaze in the sea for the dawn of day. 



SOME ARE TRAINED TO BRIDGES HOI.D . 25 

WHO LITTLE THINKS. 

A vision is the state ideal, 
Philanthropy may be divine; 
The practical alon« is real, 
And often men are only swine. 

Man lives to play and work and sleep, 
To hope and fear and love and hate; 
The poor and rich will wake to weep, 
The rich and poor may laugh at fate. 

It little boots us to complain 
Of fortune for an humble birth, 
Or sigh at loss, or smile at gain; 
We all will have a yard of earth. 

Who little thinks must toil the more, 
Who little plans must work undo; 
Stern Fate will cross our paths before, 
Fair Chance will aid but very few. 



SOME ARK TRAINED TO BRIDLES HOLD. 

Some men are trained to bridles hold, 
And some to feel a saddle girth; 
The measure is a weight of gold — 
And not a man's inherent worth. 

Society has thus decreed, 

A judgment fair o^er folly's own; 

Not fate, nor chance, but strife indeed, 

With brains adverse to strength of bone. 



26 A NATION DRUNK WITH TRIUMPH'S WINK- 

Society, man's offspring fair, 

Turns ogre to a father's eyes; 

Who nursed a child with every care, 

Should never stare with blank surprise. 



A NATION DRUNK WITH TRIUMPH'S WINE 

A nation drunk with triumph's wine 
Is reeling like a ship asea, 
When oversailed it cuts the brine, 
And from a rising gale does flee. 

The skipper cries: " Away ! away I 
" New ports are ours across the deep. " 
The seamen see the straining stay, 
But not the Elmo lanterns leap. 

They shout, " Speed on, O gallant craft ! 
' ' The rival ships are left astern : ' ' 
But break away the boat and raft, 
And then the Elmo lanterns burn. 

Ah, harder blows the rising gale, 
Dark grow the skies, the seamen fear; 
Then, reeling under shortened sail, 
The vessel finds the breakers near. 

A nation drunk with triumph's wine 
Will speed where wrecks of nations are; 
In vain the warning beacons shine 
Behind the mists upon the bar. 



LABOR'S RECOMPENSE. 2? 

STARLIGHT BEYOND. 

In the starlight of the skies 

Is a mirror of the mind, 

Where expected, or selected, 

The reflected we will find,; 

There are worlds of good and evil, 

Countless souls and God and Devil, 

Elevated, constellated, or defined. 

When the mind of man will glow 

Like a sun through ether far, 

Will the gleaming of our dreaming 

3e the beaming of a star; 

Then new worlds we will discover, 

Where the soul will gladly hover, 

Till the portals for immortals are ajar. 

From the ages of the past, 

As the cycles will return, 

In the sizing, or revising, 

-More surprising stars will burn:; 

But the mind which glows obscurely., 

Lights the heavens sometime purely; 

Then the mirror is nearer, and we learn. 



LABOR'S RECOMPENSE- 

All labor needs a recompense, 
And peace of mind is worthy pay ; 
IN<o work by either brawn or sense 
Is well produced with peace away. 



28 SPRINGWATER'S STREAM.. 

Who cheerful is in grime and soot. 
In office toil may ever chafe; 
A shoe is worn on every fo ot — 
Is every foot from bunions safe ? 

The dainty shoe is dear withal, 
Yet, folly oft that shoe to wear; 
What boots it if the foot is small, 
If corns upon the toes we bear. 



SPRINGWATER'S STREAM. 

Springwater's stream, so limpid, bright, 
To roam thy banks was my delight, 
My line across thy whirls to cast, 
And strike the speckled warrior fast ; 
Down with the wave in maddened speed, 
He feels the check of reel and reed, 
He turns and darts and springs and hides, 
But yields at last, and leaves the tides. 

Springwater's stream, thy music soft 
To sweetest dream has lulled me oft, 
Till, wakened by thy dimplings rife, 
I rose and felt the weal of life; 
The camp fire burning on the shore, 
The frugal meal, the wish for more, 
The walks, the rides, refreshing rest, 
Were dear — ah, which was dearest, best. 

O sunny stream, glide babbling on, 

New steps are heard where mine have gone ; 



I WII^ KISS MY I.OVK TO SI.EKP. 29 

New voices ring among thy hills, 
New lips will quaff thy gushing rills, 
And youth and love and beauty find 
Anew what I have left behind, 
Where crystal waters ever flow, 
And soft sweet laden zephyrs blow. 



I WILL KISS MY LOVE TO SLEEP. 

Dear thou art, and ever dearer 
As the hours so quickly glide, 
Near thou art, and none are nearer 
Than my own, my loving bride ; 
Thy soft bosom is my pillow, 
And thy throbbing tide a billow 
Soothing in its even sweep, 
Ere I kiss my love to sleep. 

Sweet thou art, my fond caresses 
Find an echo in thy heart, 
Though in answer to my presses 
Gently timorous thou art; 
Wilt thou never be confiding ? 
Wilt thou ever be so chiding ? 
Only stars which downward peep 
Watch me kiss my love to sleep. 

Fair thou art, thy merry glances 
Soothe not with their winsome light, 
As their sparkling brightness dances 
Like a moonlit stream at night, 
In my clasp my sweet one hiding, 



30 SUNNY BEINGS* 

Will not — can not think of chiding ; 
And as stars will downward peep, 
I will kiss my love to sleep 



SUNNY BEINGS. 

On the ethereal sea is fonnd 
Many a starry island round ; 
Darkened many a world must be 
Out upon the ethereal sea. 

By the ocean wide is seen 
Many a landscape fair and green , 
Many a dreary cliff, the tide 
Lashes on the ocean wide. 

On the paths we stray, we meet 
Many beings fair and sweet, 
Many beings of the way 
Shine not on the paths they stray. 

As the star's inherent glow 
Bids the worlds more beauty know, 
As the pleasant, fertile land 
Cheers the ctiffsides on the strand, 

Sunny beings are a light 
Shining on the gloom of night; 
Sunny ones are vales of love, 
Though are gloomy cliffs above. 



A BREAKXKSS CHAIN. 31 

SPIRIT FLOWERS. 

Far, afar has springtime flown 
With the lightsome, joyous Hours, 
Far, afar, and with their own 
Are the spirits of the flowers, 
Where the morn the valley tinting 
With the rainbow hues, is printing 
Kisses on the bowers. 

Will ye, spirits, only hover 
Where the zephyr softly strays ? 
Like a wanton, fickle lover, 
Born alone for sunny days ; 
Though the forms thy beauty lighted 
By a dark wind are benighted, 
Happy are thy ways. 

Spirits of the flowers, ever 
Ye are roaming with the breeze, 
Like the southern birds, which never 
See but vernal vines and trees ; 
Paradise and Barth are mated 
When ye are reincarnated 
On our sunny leas. 



A BRKAKLKSS CHAIN. 

A man would break a breakless chain, 
A man would live life unbegun, 
In summer he will wish for rain, 
In winter for a summer's sun. 



32 THE MEASURING BOWX. 

He sees mirages wondrous fair, 
In cloud rifts finds a lucent star ; 
Then launches out upon the air, 
And lights where only mortals are. 

The soul will fly, the mind aspire, 
The body hold each unto earth — 
The steel is tried by cold and fire, 
And man will gain what he is worth. 



THE MEASURING BOWL. 

In a world of dismal gloom 
Lives a demon in a tomb, 
And the entrance none can see, 
Till he near that tomb will be. 

There are bones of women fair, 
Skulls of men, and locks of hair, 
Forms of beasts and flesh of all, 
Where the sightless worms will crawl. 

There the demon in his bowls 
Mixes blood and bones and souls, 
Eats and drinks, and eats anew — 
He will feast on me — and you. 

Let him, grinning, hear my moans, 
Let him gnaw my fleshless bones ; 
All of flesh and all of soul 
Must be measured in his bowl. 



THE CITY OF NOU,. 33 

THE CITY OF NOLL. 

An evening in autumn I pondered, 

Where the tremulous light of the moon 

Like spirits, reservedly wandered 

With an odorous zephyr of June. 

A streamlet beneath me did murmur, 

And the leaflets gave answering sigh ; 

Then a voicing with softness said: "Firmer ! " 

For the ghosts of the night time were nigh. 

As I gazed, my being did nutter, 

Though the tremulous spirits around 

Came noiselessly forward, to utter: 

* ' We are only but shadow and sound : '"' 

Then, the twilight revealed one,. a ranger 

Of the region of Noll : He said, 

'" In my presence this nighttime, O stranger, 

'" Thou art where the living are dead. " 

He touched me : Ah, quickly was blotted 

The peace of the eventide gleam,, 

And the darkness before me was dotted 

With the iridal colors of dream ; 

Then oceans and mountains and rivers 

Appeared in a fanciful hue, 

And drank from the clouds' golden quivers 

The arrows of amethyst dew. 

Ah, strangely the mountains were crumbling, 
The rivers like torrents did race, 
And billows were silently rumbling 
On shores which each wave did efface ; 
The arrows no longer were falling, 



34 THK CITY OF NOU,, 

But lightnings, like meteors sped ; 
And I th ought, 'twas truly appalling — 
The land where the living were dead. 

It changed: In the change, so capricious, 

A city appeared — at the gate 

My soul, like a waif superstitious, 

Must enter — although it would wait. 

For the hosts there assembled were pining 

For something — or nothing — or all ; 

And demons were surely divining 

The fate of the City of Noll. 

Then the people the avenues thronging 
I saw, and beheld they were things ; 
And their clanging and dinging and donging, 
Were of voicings metallic — the rings 
Impulses bestowed by a lever 
Which the demons were moving in time ; 
And I pondered, if truly forever 
Would life in that place be a mime. 

Forsooth, o'er that city was netting, 
And the people were flitting like flies, 
Though the minions the demons abetting, 
Were seeking the snares to disguise, 
For a fiery bright star was appearing, 
And the hosts by the glitter was led ; 
Ah, only the ones which were searing 
In the flames did believe they were dead. 

The turrets and towers were falling, 
And the star like a meteor shone ; 



I/TNES. 35 

The people — the people were calling 
For something which ever had flown; 
But the City of Noll was upraising, 
And the avenues tumbled around, 
Till I saw, what was truly amazing, 
A city of shadow and sound. 

Then, the stranger did utter : *' My brother, 

This world is a City of Noll, 

And the flame and the net are none other 

Than the passions which govern thee all : 

Thy masters will be the red glitter, 

And death will encompass the feet, 

Till ye waken to know what is bitter, 

And ye live to remember the .sweeL " 



TO JANE. 

As the sunset on the ocean, 
As the ripples on the streams, 
Winnow beauty from each motion, 
So to me thy presence seems 
Winsome, charming,, sunny ever, 
While thy eyes, so merry bright, 
Are like stars, which setting never, 
Fill my soul with fond delight. 

As the blossoms cheer the bowers, 
£o thy smile will light my heart ; 
ILike the lark's melodious showers 
Is thy voice — in every part 
Will thy spirit thrill me,, chill me, 



36 death's dkfeat. 

As thy mood is warm or cold, 
Yet, thy beauty, grace, will fill me 
With a worth more pure than gold. 

Nymph or naiad gaily roaming, 

Have not symmetry of thine ; 

Night and morn and noon and gloaming,, 

Find thee fairer than the Nine; 

Matchless, dearest, sweetest treasure,, 

Formed for man to love, adore, 

I could love thee to a measure 

Full as none have loved before. 



DEATH'S DEFEAT. 

As the eagle from its aerie 
Darts upon its timid prey, 
As the panther strikes the wary 
Deer upon the mountain way, 
So will man, oft cruel, never 
Heed his victim's plaintive cry; 
And will Death, more greedy, ever 
Bid all living die. 

As the ruthless kings are falling 
In the grasp of mightier foes, 
As each one abides the calling, 
Pays the dreaded debt he owes, 
So upon the boundless ocean 
May be waiting Death's defeat, 
And to ns his bitter potion 
May at last be sweet. 



IF THUNDERS RUtED. 37 

LINES— 

Should man in sorrow cry, alas ? 
Misfortune here must sometime be ; 
A ship across a bar must pass 
Before it quits a stormy sea. 

Think not 'tis chance as much as skill, 
Some granting less and others more — 
The flood which will a river fill, 
Breaks not the levee on the shore 



Where Pleasure reigns is joy and sadness found, 

But not Contentment sweet ; 
No feigned delight, no fickle whim, no lure 
To urge us on Contentment brings ; 
But fair retreat will be where she will stray, 
That grants us every wish, and lulls our cares away. 



A beautiful image is a thought from Heaven, 
Reflected on the mind, and loveliness 

Is but that thought in form ; 
We gaze, admire, and with that image be, 
Till Heaven's loveliness on Earth we see. 



IF THUNDERS RULED. 

The mortal man makes earthly law, 
And much for him in spheres beyond ; 
'Tis this alone why oft a flaw 
In rules which govern him is found. 



38 AT CANBY LIGHT. 

In Heaven the thunders are the word, 
On Earth the ballot must decide ; 
Ah me, if man that thunder heard, 
In fear and peace he would abide. 

Forsooth, I hold man can not rule 
Himself alone — commingled he 
Is simply sage, a knave, or fool; 
The fool the wisest of the three. 



AT CANBY LIGHT. 



The river rolls unto the briny sea, 
For all things find a level — life begun 
Is sweet with streamlets babbling on the lea ; 
But sweet is bitter when the course is run — 
The cliffsides bleak, which time has not undone, 
Stand in their grandeur, hurling back the deep, 
L,ike Titans grim who oft have triumph won — 
Though man, fair man, may live an hour, and sleep, 
Through the unnumbered years they watchful 
vigil keep. 

The red sun slowly falls — the purpling west 
Streams with the splendor of a sanguine fray. 
For down the cloud hills, o'er the billow's crest, 
The phantom warriors press the expiring day, 
Till all in fire appear to melt away : 
The red sun breaks asunder — in the deep 
He vanished sinks ; yet, waves of crimson spray 
Speed o'er the ocean, up the cloud walls steep, 
With one impassioned rush a victory to reap. 



AT CANBY I.IGHT. 39 

Now is the river dotted with the sails 

Of myriad shallops frail — how swift they glide, 

Like white winged birds to wheel and dart, where 

veils 
Of cliffside vapors seek each form to hide ; 
Yet, soon they dart upon the crisping tide 
In mimic war, for frowns a steamer near, 
While night, its ally, closely will abide ; 
But quickly from above the stars appear, 
The dingy hulk is seen — why should the shallop fear. 

On, swiftly on, the white lines foam with rage — 
The vessel's breath floats low — with skillful hand 
The fisher guides his boat, his heritage 
Is not the prosy quietude of land, 
But wait the storm, then, usher his command ; 
Each fade upon the wave, while Twilight fair, 
Queen regent of a merry twinkling band, 
Trails o'er the sea her purple robe, and there 
Gleams from the light ship lone the signal — ship, 
beware ! 

Dream, peaceful dream enrobes the clifFsides bleak, 
In sleep unbroken are the ramparts old, 
With guns in silence, till the foeman's bark 
Will hurl the challenge with the thunders bold ; 
Yet, wheel the sea birds round the aeries high, 
The eagle looks upon the surges cold, 
While oft, along the height will sound the cry 
Of some wild prowling beast which haunts the 
ledges by. 

Bleak cape in grandeur hewn, designed for man — 
Enrobed in beauty of thy evergreen 



40 THK MIND'S PAINTING. 

Guard o'er the river, bay; and ever scan 

The ocean with a majesty serene — 

Thy hoarse voiced blasts the driven mists bemean , 

Thy flash light leads the mariner on his way, 

Thy stalwart sides will guide the tides between 

The shifting isles — and man will homage pay 

To thee, till nations new will come and pass away. 



THE MIND'S PAINTING. 

The art in the gloss of enamel or paint, 

Which fades in an hour like the sun's dimming ray r 

Is not like the rose which we ever acquaint 

Where the milk maidens over the meadows will stray. 

Like a valley embowered with foliage sweet, 

A maiden by nature may beautiful be, 

Like the valley reposing when winter winds beat, 

With the years which are passing her beauty will flee. 

But the kiss of the sunshine of nature is not 
As fair as the touch of the brush of the soul, 
When the countenance beams with the cleanness of 

thought, 
And purity's rarest of colors control. 

Who courts the fair beauty of fashion and art, 
Like the valley at winter-tide quickly will wane, 
But the pureness of soul and the sweetness of heart 
Will paint thee more beauty and bid it remain. 



LINES- 4^ 

LINES ON A PROCLAMATION. 

'" Jehovah, Lord, we ask thy aid, 

•" For we are feeble, poor and blind, " 

Is prayer which may the heart persuade 

That God is ever good and kind ; 

'" Jehovah, Lord, we give thee praise 

'" For triumph won, for conquest, gain, " 

Was fair — was wondrous fair in days 

When heathens ruled — O love, how vain i 

Ah man, if gods of war we own, 

Sing to the heathen gods of stone. 

Like to their triumph let us bring 
The spear, the shield, the treasure won, 
And joyous, round the alter ring 
Acclaim, '" The foemen are undone ! " 
*-' Undone they starve, they faint, they die, 
u Their gods are false, are imaged wood,; 
*" The mother's tear, the infant's cry, 
"Proclaims our God alone is good. " 
O man, behold the fiery star ! 
Sing to that peerless god of war. 

On Earth abode the God of love, 
He gave to man the living age, 
On Earth the symbol of a dove 
Ordained for man a heritage ; 
.No thunder's roll, no tempest's harm 
Burst o'er the people at the hour, 
■But, side by side with war's alarm 
Advances swift another power, 
And sometime man will fail to sing 
Unto the god of suffering. 



42 MY SOUI, WOULD LKAF THK WATKRS. 

There is a God — 'tis Love divine, 
Omnipotent, eternal, He 
Gives unto Earth the living bine 
Which flowers with sweet humanity. 
Man molds the age with heartless steel,, 
God molds the hearts of men, and wrong 
Falls 'neath the arm of right, till weal 
Bursts forth in one unceasing song ; 
Then duty, love and peace prepare 
Our God to hear and answer prayer. 



BLOOD RED OR BLUB. 

Red blood will pearl the cheeks and glow. 
Give ruddy lips and sparkling eyes, 
Blue blood in daintier streams may flow; 
Yet, which the nobler brain supplies ? 

Ah, neither — both — 'tis folly true 
To think that blood will always tell, 
Both may a fearless brain renew, 
And either mark where virtue fell. 

Who conquers, oft is lowly bred, 
The forlorn hope a manor child — 
The lamb unto the jungle led 
Ne'er tames the tiger of the wild. 



MY SOUL WOULD LEAP THE WATERS. 

Like a swift cruiser ordered to the fray 
My soul would leap the waters at a bound, 



HIS BROTHER- 43 

And raise the triumph , bid the paean sound 
Within the haven distant shores away ; 
No burden it would bear, but quickly be 
With zeal undaunted, and with life new found,, 
A rover, ranger of the boundless sea. 

Ah, gracious speed is not for thee, O soul, 

With joy before, and naught of care around, 

IFor, like the cruiser thou must carry coal 

To feed the living flame when nears thy fateful goal. 

With stores reserved, and progress slow, serene, 
All is accomplished, and the end is bright, 
With wanton swiftness, like a meteor's light, 
The flash is over and the end is seen ; 
No cruiser, howe'er swift, with bunkers bare, 
On foreign shores can dare the foeman's might, 
Nor give success unto its yoemen there. 

And thus, my soul must have its treasures well 
Unsullied and unstained each hour, to fight 
Life's battle — then the nearing shores will tell 
With echoes sweet to it what must all doubt dispel. 



HIS BROTHER. 



Like a billow's rush on a rock bound steep, 
Was the charge on Canay height, 

Like a tempest's rage on a wintery deep 

Were the sounds of the shells' mad flight. 



44 i,nms. 

Like the driven rain from a tempest cloud,. 

Were the bullets sputtering by ; 
And the cannon's flash and the echoes loud 

Seemed from lightnings in the sky : 

But the charge was made — a gallant charge 
As ever struck a foe ; 

Through the swamp and glade the soldiers forge- 
Up the rugged steep they go. 

From the trench and hedge the mauser pings, 

Men fall to raise no more ; 
But the crest is gained, and the triumph rings 

Across a field of gore. 

Then a soldier bowed o'er a comrade's form, 
And he tenderly raised his head ; 

He thought no more of the maddened storm, 
For he found a brother dead. 

His brother, who unto his country's call, 

That a people might be free, 
Had rushed on the foe, though the men did fall 

Like leaves from a wind swept tree. 

His thoughts to his boyhood's days were led, 
To the quiet home by the hill, 

Then he rose; and looked afar, and said : 
" My mother," — and was still. 



TO HELEN. 



From a wide, wide sea, came a joy to me, 
Came a tiniest, daintiest star, 



THK FRUITS OF TOII,. 45 

And my quiet rooms its light illumes 
With the fairest tints which are. 

It is not a gleam from the land of dream, 

Nor a star from the azure sky, 
But a life and light, which day and night 

Must either smile or cry. 

'Tis a babe as sweet as one would meet 

Where the babes of Heaven be, 
And this I know, but a month ago 

From Heaven she came to me. 

Her joyous coo is a song anew, 

And her wee cry moves my heart, 

And the angels where all things are fair, 
Must have sighed from her to part. 

But she surely brought to my mortal lot 

Heaven's own sweet delight, 
For I bend and kiss my little miss, 

And she smiles with all her might. 



THK FRUITS OF TOIIy. 

Man molds his lot ere he is grown, 
And childhood points the steep he mounts ; 
In youth he treads on roads of stone, 
Which lead to shaded crystal founts. 

Who keeps below the rugged path 
May ever drink from sluggish streams ; 



46 WE BURIED OUR COMRADE. 

He longing waits, but only hath 

The fruits of toil and not not of dreams. 



WHERE THE ORANGE TREES FLOWER. 

When the day is a poem of splendor, 
And the rhythm of Heaven is here, 
What joy can the world to us render 
As sweet as the orange grove near, 
When softly and artlessly tender 
One utters, " I wait you, my dear. " 

When the night is a dream of Aidenn, 
And the blooms seem an ocean of snow, 
When the air with a fragrance is laden 
Which blends with the moon's silver glow. 
How sweet is the voice of the maiden, 
As we stray where the orange trees grow. 

The mocking bird sings in its bower, 
And the beetle will hum in its flight ; 
Ah, swiftly, too quickly the hour 
Has fled from a world of delight, 
Though a kiss where the orange trees flower 
Will lovingly say a xi good-night. " 



WE BURIED OUR COMRADE. 

We buried our comrade in the isle of Luzon, 
And we covered the earth o'er a foe ; 

The black was a stranger — his brothers had gone , 
And left him to die in his woe. 



UPON THK SHORKIyKSS SKA. 47 

O'er the grave, sorrowed, we thought of the home 

Soon mourning far over the sea, 
For one was our comrade — our thoughts did not roam 

Where the home of the black man might be. 

For liberty perished the weak, and the strong 
For his great country's glory and fame ; 

As we silently paused, we thought it no wrong 
To mark but one grave with a name. 



UPON THE SHORELESS SEA. 

There is a sea without a shore, 
Save many isles of dark or light; 
Upon that sea are crispings bright — 
There surges beat with awful roar ; 
And there are gliding many boats, 
To sail, and sail on pinions white, 
And many wrecks, and many floats 
Will toss upon the waves like countless tiny motes. 

Each island may a haven seem, 
Each boat is but a restless soul, 
That drifts, and drifts, and seeks a goal 
Beyond the changeful mists of dream ; 
With pennon waving from the mast 
It glides upon the ebbing stream, 
And soon familiar points are past — 
Upon an unknown deep that boat is swiftly cast. 

Full many calms, full many storms, 
And vapors dark, and zephyrs kind, 



4^ FROM IMMEMORIAL TIME- 

It meets, yet, gives no glance behind — 
The port abaft to dimness pales ; 
Another island rises fair, 
It trims anew the youthful sails, 
And enters in a harbor where 
Replenished are its stores with treasures rich and 
rare. 

Ah, many wrecks are on that sea. 
And many floats would pass along — 
The boat which in the port is strong 
Upon the deep may fragile be ; 
One wind is blowing with the tides, 
One beacon star shines on the lee ; 
Who finds the course in safety glides — 
The chart is in the soul — the pilot there abides. 



FROM IMMEMORIAL TIME. 

From immemorial time have empires played 

The scenes of life and death, and human kind 

Rolls like a wave triumphant, from a sea 

Whose voiceless depth is wide eternity. 

That wave is empire, and the drops are men, 

But sands of vice, ambition's rocks and cliffs 

Rise dark before its path, till slack, inert, 

It heeds corruption's gravitation power — 

Then downward speeds and ends an empire's hour. 

What law is strong when virtue fails ? — what might 

Can bid the sunset stay th' approach of night ? 



FAME UKE A CLIFF, 49 

NUMBER "9." 

The battle raged fitfully over the plain, 

Till a column was ordered the trenches to gain ; 

Then the great guns roared, and the forms of the dead 

Were strewn on the field ere the foemen had fled. 

The low hills echoed the burial rounds 

O'er the cold, mangled forms 'neath the new made 

mounds. 
And a youth, who fell in the foremost line, 
Was laid in a grave marked the number of " 9." 

No word from the battle-field told how he died, 
In the van at the charge, to the triumph decide ; 
But the news spread abroad of the brigadiers made, 
And of heroes returning who fought from the glade, 

A mother looked oft to the turn of the lane 
For a soldier boy coming — she waited in vain; 
But the tall grasses wave, aud the wild flowers bloom, 
Where the slain in that battle found the heavens their 
tomb. 

No monument stands on that battle-field lone, 

And the names which are written in blood are not known; 

But a halo encircles the low, fading line 

Of the graves where was written the number of " 9." 



FAMK IvIKB A CUFF. 

Fame, like a cliff arising from a sea, 
Oft hurls its chosen unto bleak despair ; 



50 LINKS. 

Youth treads the ledges of its sheltered lee, 
And looks upon the golden sunset fair — 
He hears no sullen rumbling of the deep, 
He sees alone the halo on the steep ; 
And there to be, o'er-ardent climbs, and pays 
With one misstep the toil of youthful days. 

Down in the deep where sullen billows roll, 
He falls, and every hope is bourne away ; 
Yet, after-times, another seeks the goal, 
And finds the rock which bade some feet to stay; 
More cautious, he around it slow will climb, 
And nearer stands where glows that height sub- 
lime ; 
Yet, ere is past another ledge, will fade 
The splendor and dark night his steps invade. 



REST MY LOVE UPON MY ARM, 

Rest my love upon my arm, 
Rest and sleep — sleep and dream, 
I will clasp thy slender form 

Close to me, my queen ; 
Let the angels* sweetest measure 
Guide thee — guard thee, till my treasure 

Roaming far from me, 
Finds the angels watching o'er thee, 
When my kisses will restore thee 
Unto me, mine to be. 

Sleep my love, thy eyelids fair 
Angels close, angels press ; 



UNES. SI 

Let thy dreams be sweet and rare, 

Clothed in loveliness — 
Till thou wakest — wakest smiling, 
And thy eyes, so bright, beguiling, 

Gazing into mine, 
Cheer me, charm me — fleeting hours 
Whisper from the silken bowers — 
Mine — and I am thine. 



THOUGHT BORN OF LOVE. 

Thought born of love upon it lives,, 
Thought born of hate upon it feeds ; 
The heart at first its chosen leads, 
But quickly homage to it gives; 
If love alone would feed the thought, 
With joy would blend all earthly deeds- 
Alas ! We are but slaves, and bought 
By our desires so truly naught. 

Forsooth, for all 'tis surely well 
To think of good — of only good ; 
I think a person ever should 
Think Heaven is — and never Hell ; 
For every thought is ever real, 
And leads the being as it would, 
And he who hears love's soft appeal, 
Will often aid another's weal. 



A NEREID BY THE SEA. 

A Nereid came and sang to me, 
iSang unto me by the deep mad sea, 



52 AT A NOONTIDE'S LUU; 

And the breakers beat with their rapid feet 
The time of her melody. 

The voice was soft as the strains were waft r 
Of the Nereid's love to me; 
Then a mortal maid from my side did fade r 
As I gazed on the storm swept sea. 

But the mortal maid was fresh and fair 
As the fairest nymph could be, 
And the tender press of her lips' caress 
Recalled my soul to me. 

I thought no more by the wave beat shore 
Of the Nereid's love for me, 
For I would not miss that maiden's kiss 
For the fairest nymph that be. 



AT A NOONTIDE'S LULL. 

At a noontide's lull, ere downward ebb 
Did bear its splendor to a sullen deep, 
I strayed and pondered, where dark shadows 

seemed 
Inwoven with realities of life ; 

Like matted flowers and thorns, like gnarled limbs 
Supporting sunny vines, that labyrinth 
Of tanglement encompassed me, and then 
I paused. The leaf hid sun no guidance shed, 
Yet, like a waif on some adventurous flight, 
I wandered in the melancholy wild, 
Until, at length, a plain appeared beneath 



ZKOI.A. 53 

A brighter sky. Like a mirage sublime, 

A city rose upon the plain, and I 

Beheld the glistening fanes, the gilded spires, 

The walls and battlements. It nearer came — 

My being, tranced, did seek its gates, and then 

See mockery of life, a denizen. 

A hall, a temple with foundation deep 

Within the adamantine rock of freedom won, 

Rose o'er the city, and its many aisles 

Seemed but the pathways of intense resolves ; 

But, as I gazed, I saw the crumbling shaft, 

The fretted pillar honey-combed with ill, 

And wondered as I wandered, if would time 

Support the fraility on that rock sublime. 

Like pictures of the mind, when thoughts contend 

For mastery, that temple ever changed, 

For many workmen strove to break, or mend, 

To gild defects, efface some fair design, 

Or blocks uprear in granite massiveness, 

Until, my being dazed, beheld alone 

The sullen chaos of contending will; 

With war to slay, with peace no less to kill. 



ZKOLA. 

Zeola, dark Indian maiden, 
Wild flower, thou lovest not me, 
For the gliding caneam is dearer, 
The sigh of the zephyr is fonder, 
And vainly I call thee — Zeola, 
Wild blossom, thou lovest not me. 



54 UNES. 



I stray by the shores at morning, 

And hear thy sweet voice on the lake ; 

The dip of thy paddle is music, 

The water is rippling around it, 

And the wings of the zephyr are singing 

As they carry thy song o'er the lake. 

Zeola, the zephyr, thy lover, 

Must woo thee in vain — ah, in vain ; 

The meadows which blossom in springtime, 

The hillsides which flower in summer, 

The arborways, sunshine and shadows, 

Must woo thee forever in vain. 

Thou lovest all these ; yet, truly, 
Thou lovest the freedom they give ; 
They sing as thou glidest the waters, 
They sing as thou strayest the wild wood, 
And never are jealous — thy lovers 
Can offer thee more than I give ; 

Zeola, sweet child of the forest, 

Thy heart is as free as the wind ; 

The song of the morning will greet thee/ 

The even-tide's carols will cheer thee, 

And I utter — what gladness, if like thee, 

I was roaming as free as the wind. 



A fish is found in every pool — 
Though watchful trout may wary be, 
The hook is bound to catch a fool 
If baited with a rarity. 



DRIFTING SANDS. 55 



DRIFTING SANDS, 



the: anchor chains are broken. 

America, the Beautiful, 

Like a proud ship thou speedest ! 

America, the mighty, 

Like a warship thou art frowning 1 

Ah, the anchor chains are broken 
Which held thee in the harbor — 
All the olden weights are parted ; 
They are cast aside forever. 

Look to-day — look to-day 

On a noble ship, O people ! 

Bear away — bear away 

From the hidden reefs, O vessel. 

On an ocean wide thou sailest 
With the foremost of the nations, 
With the swiftest of the vessels 
Thou art racing — thou art leading. 

Thou hast left the placid harbor, 
Thou wilt meet the sullen tempest, 
On a voyage new and daring 
Thou art speeding on forever. 



56 DRIFTING SANDS. 

SPEED THOU, AMERICA. 

Up the blue arch the sun now is speeding, 
Radiant in loveliness, and the purple morn 

Flees to her cave : 
Like unto it art thou, America, 
Like the billowy splendor rolling, rolling 
Over the plains and the oceans, 
Over the valleys and mountains — 
In a great wave — in a bright wave 

Speed thou, America. 

Sing a new song my country's mountains, 
Let the triumph ring, and the joyous echoes 

Sound on the cliffs of Time ; 
See the swift wheels of progression turning, 
Now the spark electric illumines the darkness ; 
Over the new worlds and the ice fields, 
Unto the old world and the deserts 
Progress will chime a new song sublime — 

Speed thou, America. 



I HEARD A LOW KNELL. 

I heard a low knell tolling, 
A deep wave rolling over the sea, 
Over the land moaning, on my heart beating, 
Beating a knell for my brothers over the sea. 



TOLL THE SLOW BELL- 

Toll the slow bell — toll, they are dead — 
The Maine's brave crew are gone. 



DRIFTING SANDS. 57 

Death came unto them by the sunken blast, 
At the sullen roar, torn, they bleeding felL 
Toll the slow bell — toll, they are dead — 
The Maine's brave crew are gone. 

Beat the reveille ! Let the ougle call ! 

Freedom, youth renew ! 
In the cold waters sleeps a gallant band, 
Death came unto it in the garb of friend ; 
Beat the reveille ! Let the bugle call ! 
Freedom, youth renew. 



HONOR THE SOLDIERS BRAVE. 

Let the flag float low, mourn, O starry flag, 

Honor the soldiers brave ; 
In the silent home is the empty chair, 
At the lonely hearth is the broken heart ; 
Let the flag float low, mourn, O starry flag, 

Honor the soldiers brave. 

Roll the deep notes, bid the cannon speak, 

Freedom, raise thy hand ! 
In the foreign land lies the gallant youth, 
In the sullen deep sleeps the valiant one ; 
Roll the deep notes, bid the cannon speak, 

Freedom, raise thy hand. 

See the beacon lights, hear the fearless shout, 

Brave men, rest in peace ; 
In the battle's rage ye remembered are, 



58 DRIFTING SANDS, 

When the triumph rings ye are not forgot ; 
See the beacon lights, hear the fearless shout, 
Brave men, rest in peace. 



HEAR THE DRUM-BEAT. 

Hear the drum-beat, the drum-beat, the roll, 
The fife notes, the martial airs, the quick tread,, 
Sounding to-day. 
See the even lines, the gun lines — 
See the starry flag, the war flag — 
There the fair youths, the brave youths, marchiug away 
March on to slay. 

Hear the low roll, the rumble, the clang, 
The horsemen, the gunsmen, the great guns 
Moving along. 
See the bearded men, the stern men — 
See the gallant steeds, the war steeds — 
Sounds the bugle call the double-quick — fearless and 
strong, 
Speeds the great throng. 

Ah, the firm charge, the fierce charge, the shout, 
The maxims, the gatlings, the great guns 
Hurling the hail I 
Rolls the cavalry, the infantry — 
Surge the forming ranks, the broken ranks — 
Ah, the wild men, the mad men, sweep the fair vale 
Like a dread gale. 



DRIFTING SANDS, 59 

CHERISH THE HOUR OF WAR. 

Cherish the hour of war ! Sing, O my being, 
The glorious war, the liberty of alL 
Let the great guns speak to the foes of America, 
America, the beautiful, with Liberty standing- 
Let the great guns frown upon thee, America, 
America, the hungry, stained by the touch of mammon. 

Cherish the hour of war ! The arm of the Saxon 
Strikes in the wilderness — let the Saxon's arm 
Toil in America, Here the imperialist 
Like a fair creature advances — here concentration 
Grins like an ogre. Cherish the hour of war — 
Let the mighty guns wake to the call of Democracy. 



UNTO THEE, BEAUTIFUL. 

Unto thee, Beautiful, world of unceasing advance, 
Harmony ever, melody dear to the soul ! 
Like unto music rippling with wavelets of light 
Flowing from Heaven unto the shadows of Earth, 
Like unto roseate tintings of wakening morn, 
Rifting the darkness, bearing a message of joy ; 
Like unto flowers, blended with sunshine of love, 
Blossoming redolent, breathing a sweetness on all. 

Thou art a measure given by seraphs to man, 
Thou art a chord struck for the joy of the heart, 
Thou art reality, pictured, that man may behold 
Wealth of the present, treasures more precious beyond 



60 DRIFTING SANDS. 

Unto thee, Beautiful, here in a world of our own, 
Sing, O my being ! Sing, thou art living to-day ! 
Unto thee, Beautiful, forming the kingdoms of light. 
Sing, O ye angels ; chant a glad praise to thine own. 



WATER THE TRUE VINE. 

On the Aidenn fields blossoms immortal grow, 

Fair as the day, 
And the winds blow low on the happy meads, 
Till the soft breaths carry the sweetness rare 
Unto the way — unto the way of man. 

As the airy sea bears the thistle down 

Unto its goal, 
As a summer wind wafts the morning dew 

Where the plains roll, 
So a purer air carries the Aidenn seeds, 
So a sunny wave casts a perfect gem 
Unto the soul — unto the soul of man. 

Water the True Vine, men, O ye men ! 

Bid it to grow ; 
Then the sweet odors float on the rolling Earth, 
And the peace flowers bloom, and the petals fair 
Ever will glow in the new life of man. 

Nourish the True Vine, men, O ye men, 

That it may flower, 
And the Earth grows fair as the Aidenn hues 

Wave on the bower; 
Then the love paths wind on the sunny hills, 



DRIFTING SANDS. 6l 

And the True Vine shades the pilgrim's steps, 
Cheering the hour — cheering the hour of man. 



SONG OF THE HEALTHFUL GLOW. 

I am the Healthful Glow, 

I in the open air 

Wander forever. 
Where the brook murmurs I gaily am straying, 
Searching for thee — waiting for thee — 
Ever I wander, seeking for thee. 

I am the summer wind, 

I am the Echoes fair 

Roaming in grottoes ; 
In the field blossoms my colors are glowing, 
Smiling on thee — waiting for thee ; 
They ever whisper — we are for thee. 

Come to the open air, 

Come to the sunny fields, 

Hear my rejoicing. 

Hues of my roses soon on thy cheeks will be, 

Roaming with thee — laughing with thee — 

Sunrise and Sunset, Springtime and Autumn, 

Making thee/happy and young, there will be 

Waiting for thee. 



SPEED, YE MERRY WHEELS. 

Speed, ye merry wheels on the cycle path, 
Up the gentle slope, down again rolling, 



62 DRIFTING SANDS, 

Rolling along. 
Spin, ye merry wheels on the winding path, 
There the lissom limbs, there the ankles trim,, 
Youthful and strong drive thee along. 

Laughing, rollicking, happy girls coasting — 
Over the handle bars are the small feet ; 
Ah, 'tis the country lane ; prudity, ever vain ! 
Who can be looking ? pray, who can they meet ? 

Haste, ye lightsome wheels on the shady road, 
Over the level field — down again coasting — 

Coasting along. 
See the merry girls with the sunny cheeks ; 
There are laughing eyes, there are ruddy lips- 
Is it a wrong thus cycling along ? 

Resting, reposing in the fair bowers, 

Roaming the grassy field, or the retreat ; 

Ah, 'tis the country way, merry they are to-day — 

Stranger, the outing will make them more sweet. 



STRIKE A NEW CHORD. 

Spark of my being, brighten I Feel the soft wind 
Breathing upon thee ; waken, rise in glad song ! 
Ever, forever music, sweet music is near, 
Charming, entrancing — listen, it whispers to thee ; 
Calls from the echoes, sighing of winds in groves. 
Raging of billows of ocean, murmurs of rills — 
Ah, the immortal is singing, never to die, 



DRIFTING SANDS. 63 

Kver, forever to waken in anthems anew. 
Spark of my being, brighten ! All is before thee, 
Life is before thee, beauty, gladness around ; 
Strike a new chord, dying are songs of the past 
Sing of the present, and glorious ages to be. 



O MAN, BKHOLD THY HOUR. 

Let the paean ring ! Sing, O ye men, 
The victory. Let the shout resound, — 
A world, a world is thine, and glowing day 
Speeds to its zenith in the car of man. 

Let the triumph roll, roll, O ye wheels ! 
Trades and commerce, industry and art, 
Religion, science, chemistry advance, 
Moved by the fuel in the brain of man. 

Rage, O ye oceans, lash the battle-ship, 
It dares thee : Ah, it is no Roman craft. 
Come, O ye tempests, come, O heat and cold, 
Thy paths are known by instruments of man. 

Stand back, ye armies ! Hear the cannon roar, 
The missile long has struck ; Thy yoemen slain 
Heard not the voice, saw not the flash, the smoke, 
Yet, ye were measured by the arts of war. 

Fall down, ye hills, ye stately hills, fall down ! 
Ye waterfalls obey, thy hour is toil ; 



64 DRIFTING SANDS. 

O desert wastes, vast wildernesses, seas, 
Across thy confines man communes with man. 

Ye stars look down, behold thy photographs, 
And distance measured , composition known ; 
Ye suns, roll on ; thy orbits will be found. 
O universe, behold man's fertile brain ! 

Produce, O Earth, produce, be bountiful ! 
If thou dost thirst man gives thee drink, if thou 
Art hungry he will give thee food — when thou 
Art ripe, he reaps and garners in a day. 

Sing, O ye men : The Earth is chained, is chained, 
All its dominions soon obey thy will. 
Roll on, Magnificence ! Progression roll 1 
Triumphant thou— O man, behold thy hour. 



ROLL ON, O SEA. 

Roll on, O ocean, with unceasing roll 

Wear the dark cliffs away ; 
Like a great giant held by prison bars, 
Condemned to toil, by adverse fate pursued. 
Thou art forever ; but thou dost create — 
Roll on, O sea. 

Roll on, O ocean of tumultuous life, 

Wear the steep hills away ; 
Like the swift eddies whirling to and fro, 
Like ceaseless currents surging on the deep, 



DRIFTING SANDS. 65 

Thy billows raise the depths, and cleave the steep, 
Roll on, O sea. 

Roll on, O ocean of undying truth, 

Wear the dread rocks away ; 
Like a deep river nourished by the streams, 
Where crystal water foulness sweeps aside . 
Thou art forever, thus to onward glide — 
Roll on, O sea. 

Roll on, O ocean of humanity, 

Wear the dark clouds away ; 
Like a bright morning rising o'er the hills, 
Which wakes the song and tells the night is gone, 
Thy waves are sunshine flowing o'er the dawn — 
Roll on, O sea; 

Roll on, O ocean, Time's wide ocean roll, 

Wear the hours away; 
For man beholds the islands on thy wave, 
Each fairer than the One behind appears, 
Till, sometime Love, fond haven, quickly nears — 
Roll on, O sea. 



SERAPHS NO VOICE HAVE AS SWEET 

Ripple of waters answer sigh of the winds, 
Waves of the starlight sing to the vapors of night ; 
Love is undying, life is undying, soon 
Angels will question, beings on Earth will respond . 



66 DRIFTING SANDS. 

What is the being ? Being is beauty combined, 
Earth in its beauty and the Divine in the soul. 

Purity, justice, righteousness, portals are now 
Creaking to open, seraphs no voice have as sweet; 
Waken, O being, listen ; the chord has been struck, 
Telling of happiness, beauty, love unto all — 
Love unto all, such is the chord that is struck, 
Creaking the portals — seraphs no voice have as 
sweet. 



MOVES A HUGE CYLINDER. 

Onward unceasingly moves a huge cylinder, 
Grinding, levelling city and field ; 
Ever increasing weight and momentum 

Forward it rumbles, 
Falling beneath it, merchants, workmen, 

Helplessly struggle, 
Quickly to yield — fainting, expiring they yield . 

Wrecks of the workshops, factories smokeless, 
Crumble before it, waiting decay ; 
Factories greater, rising behind it 

Glow with the furnaces, 
Capital centered, massing, in union, 

Handle the levers, 
Quickly to sway nations and laws in their way. 

Ruthless Monopoly, thou art the cylinder, 
Moving, grinding, levelling all. 



DRIFTING SANDS, 67 

Pierce is the warring against thee and for thee, 

What is the ending ? 
Either the people through ballot or battle 

Handle the levers, 
Or in the fall — slaves they are all. 



THE CHANT OF THE WRECK. 

Ye cliffsides by the sea, 
Look coldly on my riven form, 

Ere I strew the beaten shore ; 
Look sadly on my crumbling form, 

For I'll sail the seas no more. 
The storm wind beat against me, 
The surges rolled upon me, 
And the cruel rock has bound me — 

I will sail the seas no more. 

Ye tides upon the sea, 
As a gallant ship I dared thee oft, 

I dared the riving gale ; 
The surge's rage I daunted oft, 

And bore the weight of sail ; 
The master sang his gladness, 
As the tempest drove upon me, 
And I sped across the ocean 
'Neath the weight of every sail. 

Ye groves anear the sea, 
Look kindly on me as I drift 

On the waves which bade me die, 



68 DRIFTING SANDS. 

Look sadly on me as I drift 
Like a wounded bird in the sky, 
For a sudden blow was struck me, 
A blow which made me tremble, 
And I fell a wreck forever — 
A wreck to moan and die. 

Ye sands beside the sea, 
Behold the form which soon will hide, 

Which ye will enclose for aye, 
For I, so fair, am soon thy bride, 

In thy arms to rest for aye ; 
The cold, sad waves are chanting 
The nuptials — and forever 
My master and my seamen 

Near us will rest for aye. 



BEAUTIFUL MUSIC TO MB- 

Notes of the organ, beautiful chantings of praise 
From the church windows flowing, called unto me ; 
Humbly I listened, bowing, knowing that there 
Blended accordant with music the Spirit of God. 

Notes of the forest, harmony dear to the soul, 
Came unto me as I wandered over the hills ; 
Pausing, I waited, waited — heeding the call : 
Softly I uttered: — Father, near me thou art. 

Notes from the stillness robing my chamber at night, 
Came to my being seemingly over a sea ; 



DRIFTING SANDS. 69 

Gladly I listened — listened enraptured, and said, — 
Father, Creator, ever before me— my God. 

Truly the forest, the church, the chamber, or where 
Purity liveth is sacred with songs for the soul : 
Truly, O stranger, the silence, the zephyr's soft voice, 
Utters a message as sweet as the organ's refrain. 



SING THE RAGE OF THE OCEAN. 

Sing the rage of the ocean, spake my soul ! 
A great wave rolled, and an angry roar 
Came like a cannon's peal as I heard — 
Heard the deep wild music of the sea. 

Like the hiss of maddened serpents, 

The rage of demons, and the laugh of madmen, 

Like the moans of terror and the groans of anguish , 

The triumph and the sigh, 

Was the deep wild music of the sea. 

I listened, and I thought 
All mortal strife, the pain, the woe, the war, 
The triumph of the beast and victim's plea, 
The mountain's wrath and tempest's rage, 
And strife of man did there reverberate. 

Yet, as I listened, 

The songs of birds, the sigh of winds, 

The rhythm of the rills and leaves, 



70 DRIFTING SANDS. 

The happiness and joy of life, and peace 
Of twilight and the mora flowed to my soul. 

In that blended song was harmony, 
No music which a seraph ever sung, 
Nor mortal muse with it compared ; 
The beauty and the terror of that strain 
Rolled from a battle-field. 

Quick my being caught 

The perfect time ; yet, ere my hand transcribed 

The rhythm, it was gone ; 

And then, I knew the music of the spheres 

Was not for man, and only rhyme 

His soul must feed upon. 



0P1ATB HUBS OF GLOAMING. 

The opiate hues of gloaming, lulling rest 
Breathed from the groves, and twilight's songs of 
birds, 

Are sweet — are sweet ; 
The music of the winds, the soft voiced winds,. 
With mingled murmurs of the mountain rills, 
Is sweet — when the tired feet 

Have crossed the sun browned hills. 

The bacon on the campfire frying sings 
Accordant with the coffee boiling near, 
And sweet — are sweet 



DRIFTING SANDS. 7 1 

The odors there to breathe — and then, the bed 
Of hemlock twigs beneath a towering tree 
Is sweet — when the tired feet 
Have chanced that spot to be. 



SONG OF THE MOUNTAIN. 

Crowned by the morning sun, 
Robed with the purple cloud, 
I, old and hoary stand ! 
In the dead past peoples did worship me, 
In the fair present I have adoration. 

Let the low hills exclaim, 

Hail thee, Magnificence ! 

Let the swift rivers sing, 

Guide with thy footprints ! 
In the days gone, mighty, I molded them, 
In the near future, monarch, I wake anew. 

Ermine of many snows 

Over my shoulders fall, 

I have dominion true. 
Tremble, ye cliffs, bow down before me ! 
Slumber, ye valleys, feel my ice vapors ! 

Let the cave winds awake, 
They are my messengers ; 
Let the blue glaciers moan ; 
Slaves of my impulses ! 



72 DRIFTING SANDS. 

Never I fear, for I, waking angered, 
Speak, and all fearful make supplication. 

Deep in my breast are hid 

Riches and treasures rare, 

Come ye who cherish them. 
On my huge shoulders vigor and health abide, 
Pastime, reposing, find a retreat with me. 

Crowned with the leaden sky, 

Robed with the sunset's fire, 

I am a mountain old 

Reigning in majesty ; 
Freely I give, and only one boon will ask — 
Look on my grandeur and worship thy God, 



SOUIv OF THE NATION. 

As the mystic fire, called spirit, 

Is to man a robe, 
So that subtle force electric, 
Will commingled, clothe a nation 

Or a globe. 

Every man must have around him 

That one dainty flame, 
Yet, together all are burning, 
Glowing, dimming, and one spirit 
Writes a nation's name. 



DRIFTING SANDS. 73 

Every country has a spirit, 

Every man will be 
Part and parcel of its beauty, 
Or its dimness — like our passions 

We that nation see. 



BEAUTY OF THE WORLD. 

In the solitude we see 
The wonderful of nature, on the heights 

Sublimity is born ; 
The maddened surge of ocean. 
The gentle waves of starlight, 
And melodies, sweet odors, 
Make beautiful the world. 

On the sere waste we find 
The weariness of living, in the mart 
The slavery of soul ; 
But even there is sunlight, 
And life and love and leisure, 
And beauty of the world. 

In the varied paths we feel 
The happiness of living, if we have 
The beautiful around ; 
Who looks for night, will find it 
In every nook and corner, 
Yet, day as many hours 
Will brighten our surroundings 
With beauty of the world. 



74 DRIFTING SANDS. 

SONG OF THE: DYING FIR. 

Pipes of the forest wind, 
Blow sweet and low, let the Dryads sing 
In merry time to-day, 
For the sunset of my being would linger with the music, 
And the autumn of my portion would stay the touch of 
winter ; 
Pipes of the forest wind, 
Blow soft and low, let the Dryads sing 
In the chosen haunt to-day. 

In the first dawn of life 
Companions mine did cherish me — 
Fond creatures of my heart ; 
Would they were Oreads ever in their pleasure founts 

eternal, 
Would I were youth abiding in a sunshine never ended ; 
But my hour has come ; I hearken 
To the voice of the woodsman nearing, 
And the ax must find my heart. 

Notes of the forest wind, 
Rise gently now — in the grotto still 
Let the Echoes sing to-day, 
For I freely give my being to the use it was intended, 
Though companions mine are dying ere the song to-day 
is over ; 
Notes of the forest wind, 
Rise sweetly now, let the music cheer 
In the final dance to-day. 

Ring loud, ye merry ax ! 
Let brothers mine awake and see 



DRIFTING SANDS. 75 

The graceful form to fall, 
That they, alike me growing, may wait the call of duty, 
For youth and strength are needed, and the call to all 
is nearing. 

Drink to my health, ground, 

Prepare my bed, receive me — 

I totter, ere I fall. 

Joys of the mountain born, 
Adieu, adieu — let the anthems cease, 
And the Dryads say farewell ; 
If Pan is my Creator, unto him I am returning, 
In the fullness of a moment which is richer in my 
going- 
Joys of the mountain born, 
Let silence be as I lie in death — 
Except thy one farewell. 



TO-DAY. 

To-day — none other is thine own, 
Though future nears — the past is gone 

Thus let it be. 
The sea waves chant an anthem sweet, 
The forest calls from its retreat, 
And even cities' tramp and beat 
May gracious be to-day. 

Why search for what is not thine own 
In clouds, or in some phantom land 
Which can not be ? 



76 DRIFTING SANDS. 

Upon thy path the light will flow, 
The shower pays what it will owe, 
And every passing hour we know 
May pleasant be to-day. 

The poetry of life is thine 

In cities, or on mountains grand > 

To ever be — 
Read as thou seest, quickly find 
Thy path is ever, ever lined 
By what is in the heart and mind- 

And thus it is to-day. 



I LIVE NOR THKE. 

Deep in the heart of man 
Is nursed an idol, and it grows 

The image of himself. 
In the bright morn of pleasure, 
At the dark night of trial, 
That idol leads him, and he speaks, 

"I live for thee." 

Deep in the soul of man 
Is born a blessing, and he finds 

Its presence every where. 
Though love he gone forever, 
And duty flee beyond us, 
Fair Hope will whisper sweet and low, 

" Now live for me." 



DRIFTING SANDS. 77 

Unto the things of earth 
Is shadow with the sunshine, unto men 

Are images for all ; 
One comes to us like morning, 
Another like the noonday, 
The last, in darkness waits the words — 
I live for thee. 

Sad is the hour of man 
When all which life can give him speaks, 

<T Thy kingdom is a stone." 
Love lost, and duty sleeping, 
Hope gone, all Earth strings broken, 
Be stoic cold — to misery speak, 
"I live for thee." 

Never a sullen cloud 
Did drift before us, but it fled, 
.< And left the sun to shine. 
Life here not worth the living, 
Finds death not worth the dying . 
Though Hell environs, firmly answer : 

"■Fate, I live for thee." 



SONG OF THE CORNER STONE- 

Walls of the granite born 
From the fierce heat beneath, 
Firm as an Atlas stand ! 
Mountains upon thee grandly majestic rise, 
Harmless above thee nestles the beautiful ; 



78 DRIFTING SANDS. 

Man in sublimity rising, advancing, 
Earth in fertility molding, changing, 
On thee in safety rest. 

Cliffs of the granite old, 

Formed from the mother wall, 

Battle the elements L 
I am an offspring hewn from thy massiveness, 
Iyike to thy prominence, I am of import ; 
Chosen of all of Earth, I, the unbreaking, 
Holding the treasures rare — guarding, unyielding , 

I am the corner stone. 

Rise, O ye walls ! Uphold 

Minarets, towers, 

Ye are man's handiwork ! 
In thy foundation I in my portion am, 
Lean ye, symmetric walls, lean ye upon me ; 
Through the long years silent, yet, watchful, 
To the dim ages, I, ever faithful, 

Calmly will bear my load. 

Pause, O ye throngs of men, 

Pause, O ye careless ones, 

Are ye the corner stones ? 
Progress must ever be, man is improving, 
Now is the Architect molding his building rock ; 
Beautiful, stately, formed unto modern lines, 
Is a new mansion with each generation ; 
Are ye the corner stones ? — or but a rubble east, 

Ever worthless to be ? 

As the dense granite formed 



DRIFTING SANDS, 79 

By the fierce elements, 

Makes the foundation true, 
So the firm rock to be, comes from the warring 

now ; 
Theory, creed and fact, fallacy, waking truth, 
Like the primordial battle for triumph ; 
Strive in the hour of strife, toil in the hour of toil, 
Now is the battle on — all of ye are to-day 

Hewing a corner stone. 



TO DARKNESS FOREVER. 

Ye men who are striving for money, 
Do the heart strings quiver for thee ? 
O kings of Earth from riches, 
Do the silver chords tremble for thee ? 

If thy heart beat stills, will a people's heart 
Throb at the loss of the parting ? 
If thy red lips cool, will a nation's lips 
Moan like a child when forsaken ? 

Though the world acclaims of thy greatness, 
And the cost of thy palace of marble, 
The tomb is thy end, and thy glory 
Will fade like the sun in the ocean. 

The world will acclaim of thy riches, 
And the moan of the poor is the echo ; 
Thy heart will be vain for a moment, 
And the widow will tremble before thee ; 



So DRIFTING SANDS. 

But a cloud will encompass thee ever, 

And thy robes, though of silk, are a burden ; 

Thy wail is the end of thy being — 

Thou sinkest to darkness forever. 



TH^ GOOD SHIP. 



In the smooth waters gaily, rapidly onward, 

Moves the trim ship ; 
" Port the helm ! " is the cry : " Steady I" onward 
Glides the staunch shi}>. 
By the low wreck, former disaster, 
Round the bell buoy ; telling of shoals, 
On the great waves, rolling, dipping, 
Speeds the good ship. 

Passed is the light-house, dimming, in the grey 
hiding, 
Are the low shores ; 
H Let go the line ! " is the cry : she is veering 
From the dim shores. 
Rings a loud shout — she is free, 
11 Heave O ! " " Belay ! " Songs of the seamen 
Float on the wind — fading to leeward, 
Sink the far shores. 

Speck on the billows, voyaging ever, forever, 

Like a sea bird, 
Braving the tempest, daring reefs and the dangers 

Like a wild bird — 
Glide over the mountainous ocean, 



DRIFTING SANDS. 8l 

Speed unto the haven with treasure ; 
By the fair isles winding, veering, 
Like a fair bird. 

On the human ship, some day, " Let go the tow 
line!" 
Calls to the heart ; 
The youthful ship, veering, feels the wind urging, 
Thrills the young heart- 
Then the light-house dims, and the vapors 
Float over the home of the childhood, 
But the bell buoy sounds a warning 
To the sad heart. 

\ 
On the wide ocean voyaging, ardent, yet, cautious, 

Speeds the young ship ; 
Manned is the wheel, side lights trimmed, and the 
lookout 
Guards the fair ship. 
Over the billowy ocean, 
By wrecks and reefs and shoalings, 
Unto the haven beyond it, 
Sails the good ship. 



Our many hopes may fade away, 
Our little joys be quickly past ; 
Yet, like the birds which sing to-day, 
They brighten hours that are their last, 
And coming, going, sweets instill, 
Our cup of mortal life to fill. 



&2 MISCELLANEOUS. 



ODE TO MOUNT HOOD, 
i. 

Proud mountain of the West Land, 
Old and hoary in thy glory, 
Like a Titan grim thou gazest 
On the valleys and the sea ; 
By the Ages conquered never, 
Thou a monarch art forever — 
Proud mountain of the West Land, 
Hail to thee ! 

II. 

Thy tiara is the starlight, 
Softly gleaming, till the beaming 
Sun will change thy shroud of purple 
To resplendent hues of gold ; 
Then, thy frowning brow with fire 
Is encrowned, the stars retire ; 
And thou standest grim and grandly 
White and old. 
in. 

Clouds eternal robes are weaving 
On thy towering shoulders, lowering 
O'er the caverns in thy bosom 
Where the shadows find retreat ; 
Moaning glaciers wind around thee 
Icy mantles which have bound thee ; 
And the forest forms the sandals 
Of thy feet. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 83 

IV. 

From thy deep abysmal gorges 
Rivers surging, are emerging 
In the valleys where thou gazest 
Sadly, coldly on the past ; 
Steamers on the windings wander, 
Tourists there would pause, and ponder 
On thy peerless greatness towering 
In the vast. 

v. 

Pride of Oregon, forever 
In their rambles where the gambols 
Of the crystal brooks are music, 
And the groves are alway green, 
Man will stray thy rugged bowers, 
Roam thy fields of snow and flowers ; 
And within thy coves and grottoes 
Rest serene. 

VI. 

Though the tempest winds about thee 
Moan forever, thou art never 
Heeding fires within thy bosom 
Urging thee upon thy foes ; 
They are sleeping, gently sleeping, 
And the watch which thou art keeping 
Is the dream of silent ages 
Of repose. 

VII. 

'Tis a dream which knows no waking, 
Save, thy brothers, snow clad brothers 
Standing near thee, rouse in anger, 



&4 MISCELLANEOUS. 

Then, thou rumblest thy alarm ; 
Lurid wrath thy bosom heaveth, 
Land and air and ocean grieveth ; 
Moaning, trembling at the frenzy 
Of the storm. 

VIII. 

Proud mountain of the West Land, 
Old and hoary in thy glory, 
As we look upon thy grandeur 
We behold eternity ; 
Like a Titan thou art standing, 
Homage from each one demanding- 
Proud mountain of the West Land, 
Hail to thee ! 



SONG OF THE LIGHT-HOUSE. 

I live alone on my home of stone, 
Where the surges roll from the sea ; 

Alone I dwell where the sad waves knell, 
And the wild winds shriek to me. 

The eagle screams in its evil dreams, 

And the sea birds round me cry, 
While on my coasts sail the shrouded ghosts 

Of the wrecks which near me lie. 

They sail at night, and the birds' mad flight 
Seem the ghosts of the mariners dead, 

Which ever groan when the mad winds moan, 
And rest when the storm has fled. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 85 

The sunset low will see me glow, 
As I wake with the mists of night, 

And I flash and wane o'er the briny main, 
Till the sunrise dims my light. 

The mariners see my flash alee, 

And they shout, " Away ! away ! " 

And the good ship flees on the bounding seas, 
To the song, " Heigh O, aye, aye ! " 

I'm the light-house lone on my home of stone, 
I dwell where the mad waves sound ; 

And my beacon light is a star at night 
To the vessels homeward bound. 

The glad refrain rings over the main, 

As they see my fair light burn, 
" Heave O ! Heave O ! To the port we go ! " 

And I flash and wane astern. 



WORK TO-DAY. 



When the galaxy of stars, 

Joyous stars, 
Rolling through the heavens sung, 
" Karthis young — fair and young, " 
Tempests rushed, and waves recoiled, 
Land and air and ocean toiled, 
Forming Earth by ceaseless wars 

Like the stars. 



86 MISCELLANEOUS. 



Through the constellated sea 

Earth did flee, 
Singing low a mother's song, 
Forming right from seeming wrong ; 
Toiling thus for you and me — 

You and me. 

Only by her ceaseless work — 

Earnest work, 
Earth prepared herself to be 
Fit for you — you and me; 
Like the Earth's tempestuous strife, 
We must mold a nobler life — 
Only ceaseless work to-day 
Is the way— night and day. 
Like the waves' advance, recoil, 

We must toil. 



WHERE THORNS CAN NEVER MOCK. 

Religion of the reason gives 

The charm of calm and placid hours, 

Dark superstition only lives 

Where thorns are mingled with the flowers. 

The creed of science, like a sword, 
Will cut at every skillful thrust, 
Sweet faith, alike a child, would ford 
The stream beyond the realms of dust. 

Though reason severs flower and thorn, 
Though science cuts a woven skein, 



MISCELLANEOUS. 87 

The parted cord the steps may scorn, 
A piercing thorn will still remain. 

Not faith, nor reason is our all, 
Not science is alone the light ; 
'Tis love which answers every call, 
Removes the thorn, and cleaves the night. 



WE FALL OR RISK. 

Some men like birds may wish to fly, 
Some like the waves away to speed ; 
Some like the winds to drift and sigh, 
And others like the ox to feed. 

The wish is vain for all for aye, 
The ox must toil, or feel the goad; 
The winds awake and blow away, 
While man must walk a hilly road. 

All things obey a wondrous force, 
On man the greater pressure lies ; 
The river flows a downward course, 
But man may either fall or rise. 



A WILL-O-WISP. 

No ignorance is without bliss 
Beholding m ore than wisdom sees ; 



88 MISCELLANEOUS. 

Where wisdom seeks and is amiss> 
Will ignorance perceive with ease. 

Is there a man so little taught, 
To not decide on Holy writ ? 
The many think they have forgot 
More wisdom than is found in it. 

Ah, ignorance with folly wed, 
Will follow where a lure will glow ; 
A will-o-wisp has ever led 
The man who everything does know. 



YOUTH. 

Youth is like a moonlit gleam 

On a stream, 
In the darkness it is bright, 
And the glitter of its light 

Seems a dream ; 
Seems a dream of happy times, 
When the shadows are the mimes, 
And the ripples are the rhymes 

Of its theme. 

Youth is like a summer breeze 

In the trees, 
For it strays among the bowers, 
And it sips the sweets of flowers 

At its ease ; 
Sips the sweets of summer fair, 



MISCEUvANEOUS. 89 

And the shapes of light and air 
Are companions sweet and rare, 
Formed to please. 

Youth is like a star at night, 

Ever bright, 
And the clouds which may arise, 
Never linger in the skies 

Of delight ; 
Never linger with the mimes, 
Till the rippling of the rhymes 
Beat on shores of after-times, 

In their flight. 

Youth is like the rhythm low, 

When will flow 
Waters from a mountain spring, — 
Youth is like the birds which sing 

All they know ; 
Birds which warble all the day, 
Bidding careless youth to stray 
Where the flowers on the way 

Ever grow. 



BROOKS OF OREGON. 



Hail, land of valleys, plains and hills, 
Of rivers grand, and crystal rills, 
Snow covered mountains, slopes of .green, 
,And lakes enrobed in silvery sheen, 
Of boundless groves and bounding sea, 
My native land, dear land to me : 



90 MISCELLANEOUS. 

Of all thy charms, thy brooks alone 

Would melt the heart, though it were stone, 

Would bid all care be cast aside > 

And sorrows in the shadows hide; 

From cool retreats the purlings flow 

In rhythmic numbers sweet and low, 

To babble down the pebbled bed, 

And bid us know where dreams are fed ; 

Wide branching trees, the vines and flowers, 

The crags, the rocks, the paths and bowers, 

The wavering log which forms the bridge, 

The sloping bank, the mossy ridge, 

Grant us repose from every theme, 

Except the joy of dreamless dream : 

There dance the daughters of the springs* 

There sigh the winds, the zephyr sings 

A sweet content to flower and tree, 

Attuned unto the streamlet's glee. 

Fair Oregon's soft babbling rills 

Are pure as dews upon her hills, 

Are sweet as waters sweet can flow, 

And colder than the melting snow ; 

There beauty dwells, there grandeur reigns, 

And memories, like crystal chains, 

Will bind our hearts unto the rills 

In Oregon's unrivalled hills. 



'Neath cloaks of right will nations war to be 

Sole ruler over every land and sea ; 

The cloak's protection keeps the ill obscure, 

But warms the heart, and makes the triumph sure. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 91 

HAVENS OF THE MEMORY. 

Can this life be made complete, 

Full and sweet, 
If no gratitude we owe ? 
If no sympathy we know, 
Then this life is not complete — 

Not complete. 

Have we lived a single hour— 

But an hour ? 
Unless love our being filled ? 
Love which moved us as it willed ; 
Though love faded like a flower, 
If our own we lived an hour. 

Havens for the soul will be 

On life's sea ; 
Though the waves of sorrow roll, 
Sadly roll« — ever roll, 
Gratitude and love will be 
Havens of the memory — 
Havens where the soul would flee 

On life's sea. 



Slow is the plow which deeply grooves, 

Yet, richer soil is thus upthrown ; 

Alone the ceaseless drilling proves 

The gold between the walls of stone ; 

Who knowledge seeks, who wealth would gain, 

Must deeply delve, or toil in vain. 



92 MISCELLANEOUS. 

LIGHT OF OUR SWIFT FLIGHT. 

Can the wondrous eyes of thought 

Dimly see — ever see 
What is in the future wrought 

For you and me? 

Though a minute is the space, 
Can they trace — ever trace 
Where the mystic billows wave, 
Anything — except the grave ? 

Hope can gaze afar to-day, 
Fear can look a little way, 
Thought, the truest guide, is blind, 
Save, it turns and looks behind ; 
From the past alone to see 
What shall be. 

Ah, the future is a deep — 

Endless deep, 
Where the shores of present raise 
With the passing hours and days- 
Yet to keep — ever keep 
Sinking, fading in the past 
Boundless vast. 

Round about, on every hand, 
Shifting sand — drifting sand, 
Forms ahead, and sinks behind, 
And our truest guide is blind ; 
Only Faith and Hope can light 
Our swift flight. 



MISCELLANEOUS. • 93 

SONG OF THE LIGHT-SHIR 

At anchor I by the breakers lie, 

And the vessels on the deep, 
Away, away, like the wild birds fly, 

While I rest like a bird asleep ; 
My captain gray has sailed his day, 
And nevermore will the anchor weigh, 
But the waves will roar the days of yore, 
As we rest where the storm winds sweep. 

The storm wind comes with the roll of drums, 

With the shriek of a fiend asea ; 
Against my sides it madly thrums, 

And moans in eager glee ; 
I only glance where the waves advance 
With the swash and swirl of a mystic dance, 
And though I strain on the anchor chain, 
I never look alee. 

My bright red sides on the sunlit tides, 

Will tell of the haven still, 
My mast-head light the vessel guides, 

And sounds my siren shrill ; 
When the surges roll my bell will toll 
A last repose of the seaman's soul, 
But with the three will my warning be, 

If the night fog tokens ill. 

Asleep I seem on the briny stream, 

But never asleep I fall, 
For the breakers roar and sea birds scream, 
And the hour bell sounds the call; 



94 MISCELLANEOUS. 

The song, " Heigh O, we home ward go ! " 
The sailors sing, as they see the glow 

Of my dipping beacon star ; 
Though the inner buoy is the sailors joy, 
As they pass me by they shout "Ahoy ! ' f 

To the light-ship on the bar. 



DEED AND WORD. 

The splendid glow of Christ-like deedsy 
And warmth of loving words will be 
The radiant day which upward speeds, 
And bids the night forever flee. 

Each is a sun whose light will roll 
Across a world in waves of peace, 
That cheer the heart, and feed the soul r 
And ask our sorrows ever cease. 

What fairer light can man behold, 
What sweeter song has mortal heard, 
Than of that twin-star clothed in gold, 
Which shines and sings of deed and word= 



I walk in the light of an orient morn,. 

When we stray the quiet lea, 
The fairest flowers may our path adorn f 

Yet, none are as fair to me 
As the one sweet rose without a thorn — 

My love — my bride to be. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 95 

ODE TO THE COLUMBIA RIVER. 

I. 

Hail Columbia, lordly river ! 
Downward bowling, rolling, rolling, 
From the Rockies' golden summits 
Like a kinsman of the sea ; 
Battling with the storm's commotion, 
Striving with the tides of ocean, 
In thy grandeur ever peerless 
Thou wilt be. 

II. 

By the fields of grain and grasses, 
By the shifting sand dunes, drifting 
On thy banks where roamed the Indian, 
And the buffalo did hide, 
To the foaming dalles thou sweepest, 
Down in cataracts thou leapest 
Where the legendary arches 
Spanned thy tide. 

ill. 

Through the palisaded gorges, 
Where the dashing falls are flashing 
Rainbow luster — where the panther 
Nightly wails about its lair, 
By the islands cotton-wooded, 
Crags, and mountains hoary hooded, 
Thou art passing — swiftly passing 
Grandeur there. 

IV. 

On thy ceaseless surge impetuous 
Seaward racing, lithesome, gracing, 



96 MISCELLANEOUS. 

Swans of commerce glide serenely 
O'er thy many waving miles ; 
Ah, the battle-ship thou bearest 
Where no reef nor tide-rip snarest, 
And the crispings from the white sides 
Seem thy smiles. 

On thy wave shall Asia's commerce 
Coming, going, ever growing, 
Find the gateway of a nation, 
And famed cities on thy shores ; 
In thy depths are golden treasures, 
And the years are but the measures 
Marking time when wealth is knocking 
At our doors. 

VI. 

To thy cliffs would Hudson's mountains,, 
Rhine's rock castles, seem as vassals 
To a monarch. — X,auded rivers 
To thy grandeur be but streams ; 
Picturing countless villas lining 
Thy green slopes, and fields of vining 
Waving on thy granite barriers, 
Are not dreams. 

VII. 

Hail Columbia, lordly river, 
Downward bowling, rolling, rolling, 
From the snow-clad western mountains 
To the billows of the deep ; 
Oregon's fair sons and daughters 



MISCELLANEOUS. 97 

Hail thee king of mighty waters, 
As they look upon thy massive 
Even sweep. 



IF THE PRESENT DAY IS BRIGHT. 

Though for us the near to-morrow 

May be sorrow — only sorrow, 

If the present day is bright, 

Let us live within its light ; 

Worry can not change the morrow, 

We will only sadness borrow : — 

Vale delight — vale delight 

To the one who looks for night. 



THERE IS A GOD. 

There is a God- O precious thought, 
To live, and know that life is not 

Our own to throw away; 
That God is love — so truly real, 
That every throbbing heart must feel, 
Sometime — some fleeting day, 
A wish, a longing, hope it could not 
utter nay. 

There is a God : And ever dear 
Unto the heart, if He is near 
To counsel, lead, decide; 



98 miscellaneous* 

O soul, thou art a slave ; yet, free 
To do what love would do for thee. 
If sweeps a darksome tide 
Upon thy fragile bark that drifts 
life's ocean wide. 

No jeweled throne, no haughty frown, 
No thunder words to cast me down, 

Are for that God of mine ; 
Let poets sing, and sculptors reign, 
Let fear design— all is in vain, 

No ideal light will shine 
With that one Morning Star when love 
is Light Divine. 

He is with thee — He is afar — 
He cherishes the tiny star 
Which sees no world of ours ; 
Creation is his chosen throne, 
His diadem the stellar zone, 
Yet, in the rocks and flowers 
He is, and in our hearts He would abide 
for hours. 

Humanity, man's freedom won, 
A better world — is work begun 

Anew to His desire ; 
Let other spheres their own control, 
Thou art a slave to this, O soul ! 
Upon man's funeral pyre 
If he is true in this, will glow 
immortal fire. 

If dark, suspense, or ill, or care, 



MISCELLANEOUS. 99 

Surround us, He will answer prayer — 

Be patient, faithful one ; 
All merciful, of boundless might, 
He hears a plea and sends a light, 

A fair arising dawn , 
That lulls our every fear and tells us 
night is gone. 

There is a God — Can man conceive 
A One, so Wonderful, and weave 

An image for his own ? 
Ah nay, the finite can not see 
The presence of Infinity 

In paint, or wood, or stone ; 
But, fill the heart with love and He 
will there be known. 



SONG OF THK SURF BOAT. 

I'm the surf boat trim, and away I skim 

Over the bounding sea ; 
I heed the press of the dipping oar, 
The swash of foam and the breaker's roar 

Are music sweet to me ; 
Are music sweet when the storm winds beat 

Over the bounding sea. 

On the billow's crest I rock and rest, 

I dip in the seething spray ; 
I wheel and dart as the boatmen toil, 
I rush ahead where the mad waves boiL 

LefC. 



I0O MISCELLANEOUS. 

At the fearless shout, "Away ! " 
At the fearless shout, I put about, 

And dance on the seething spray. 

In the lurid sky the rockets fly, 
And the guns alarum sound ; 

The steady stroke will bring me near 

The swa}dng wreck, then away I veer — 
Alee I swiftly bound ; 

Away to the lee I quickly flee 

When the warning signals sound. 

If the seamen leap in the angry deep, 

I stand by every one, 
If they on the shrouds or the yard-arms cling, 
I pause below where the clew lines swing, 

Till all from the wreck have gone ; 
Till all from the deck of the wave beat wreck 

Have left her one by one. 

I'm the surf boat trim, and away I skim 

Over the seething tides ; 
The wild waves beat on the wreck abaft, 
But no one fears of the perils aft, 

If he in the surf boat rides ; 
For all in the boat to the shore will float, 

Over the seething tides. 

I lightly rise where the white spray flies, 

And on the breakers run ; 
I pause and sink when the waves recoil, 
But leap ahead as the oarsmen toil, 

Till the rolling gates are won ; 



MISCELLANEOUS. IOI 

1S11 the rolling gates my gallant mates 
Have passed, and the shore is won. 

I'm the surf boat true, and my fearless crew 

Are born for the howling blast ; 
We snugly rest when all is fair, 
But the warning bell will call us where 

The wreck on the rock is cast ; 
At the call from the rock though the wild waves 
mock, 

We dare the howling blast. 



FANTASMA. 



Like Phoenix, rising from its nest of sleep, 
The ardent soul would leave the earthly bowers, 
To sail, and sail, and seek delightful hours 
From ripples wafted o'er a sunny deep ; 
Like clustering hues appear its fond desires, 
Inwoven with soft mists and smiling flowers, 
While drift the notes of time's awakened lyres 
In melody anew o'er man's decaying pyres. 

It hears the voicings bourne by zephyrs fair 

Upon the crispings of that radiant sea, 

And moors its shallop in the sheltered lee 

Of massive cliffs, where ill and night and care 

Abide alone within forgotten past ; 

The morning, noon and eve are harmony, 

And stars which twinkle from the boundless vast, 

Each day have purer tints upon that haven cast. 



102 MISCELLANEOUS. 

But as the Phoenix builds its funeral pile 
When through the skies its wanton course is flown, 
The dreaming soul beholds a waste of stone 
Where flowers before had seemed to fondly smile ; 
It comes to Earth, where tombs of nations great 
Re-echo ever time's unceasing moan, 
And sleeps, until again will Love or Hate 
Within a phantom void another world create. 

Utopia, dream island of the deep, 

Fantasma, land of blending rainbow hues, 

Within thy vales the morning's sunny dews 

Are evening's tears, for life must sorrows reap 

From seeds deep planted at its noonday sun ; 

Might is the goal, and nations gain or lose, 

On bleak reality the course is run, 

And when the end is near they find a grave is won. 

Euphrates cools the burning sands, where waved 
The vines of luxury and pomp and pride ; 
Dark Nilus flows and ebbs, a sullen tide, 
With fallen greatness on its banks engraved ; 
Famed Greece and 'Rome in sleeping ruin dressed , 
Would in their cherished ramparts safely hide, 
Until, by Hope to life anew caressed, 
Will Phoenix proudly rise from out its own built 
nest. 

Ah, vain the dream of peace ! And ever vain 
The joyous soul will wing its rapid flight 
Unto the islands of a sea of light, 
Where darkness, ill, and sorrows never stain ; 
Upon the Earth are fields el y si an sweet, 



MISCELLANEOUS. 10 3 

Within the world are pathways alway bright, 

An undiscovered land, a hid retreat, 

Till ages wear away by tramp of human feet. 



WITHOUT THEE, MY LOVE. 

Life is naught, is naught to me, 

Without thee, my love ; 
Like a ship without a chart — 
Like a life without a heart, 
Cold and stoic I would be 

Without thee, my love. 

Life is naught, is naught to me, 

Without thee, my love ; 
Morn would waken thoughts too drear, 
Evening tell of darkness near ; 
Sunny spring would winter be 

Without thee, my love. 

Every flower would fade and die, 
Every song would be a sigh, 
Every hope would ever flee, 

Without thee, my love ; 
Thou art all of life and light. 
Thou art day without a night ; 
All is darkness without thee, 

Without thee, my love. 



Man glories in a warlike theme, 
By gore alone will nations deal ; 
Millennium to-day is dream, 
But Armageddon's field is real. 



104 MISCELLANEOUS. 

AS SUNSET TO THE SEA. 

As sunset to the sea, 
As ripples to the stream, 
As honey to the bee, 
Is splendor to the dream 
Of else than is our own, 
Of else than we may know ; 
But sunset feels the gloam, 
And ripples cease to flow. 

The crystal streamlet's lair 
Shall hear the wind's alarm, 
The sweets we long to share 
Await the robber's arm ; 
If splendor is the goal, 
The dream of life is vain, 
For on life's written scroll 
Too oft will be a stain. 

As blossoms to the tree, 

As songs unto the dale, 

As dew drops to the lea, 

Is beauty to the veil 

Which shrouds our humble lot, 

Which robes with nearing ill ; 

Though blossoms soon are not, 

And voicings sweet are still. 

The waving lea shall wear 
Too oft a gemless crown, 
The parching summer air 
Will leave the meadow brown ; 



MISCELLANEOUS. IO5 

If beauty is the seal, 
As beauty oft is taught, 
Life's pathway is unreal, 
Life's gates are still un wrought. 

True splendor is the light 
Which leaves no fading ray, 
From it will flee the night. 
As night will flee from day ; 
The pure of heart alone 
Are suns in earthly skies, 
The course may soon be flown, 
But sunset never dies. 

And beauty, peerless, fair, 

Glows with inherent hue, 

It is the jewel rare 

When hearts are pure and true ; 

'Tis beaut}?- to the soul 

Which will life's portal ope, 

To aid, anear the goal 

Are waiting Love and Hope. 



DANCE OF THE LEAVES. 

Lightly dancing leaves 
Winnow beauty ever 
From the rosy hues 
Of the crystal dews ; 

In vain, in vain, 
The thieving winds endeavor 



106 MISCELLANEOUS.. 

To steal the wanton mirth the fairy 
time pursues. 

Can the morn of spring 
Bring to them but gladness? 
Can the summer air 
Be else than alway fair? 

Nay — ah nay y 
Ne'er an hour of sadness 
From out its solemn cave awakes an 

echo there. 

Night may come, may come, 
Yet, they dance serenely, 
Voicing anthems sweet — 
Hear the dainty feet ; 

Away, away, 
On the winds, so queenly 
Bach tiny form will swing, advance, 

and then retreat. 

Hear the prompter's call 
From the branch above them — 
Hear the gentle sigh 
As the robes sweep by ; 

Again, again, 
I listen and I love them, 
As they lightly dance for all who 

linger nigh. 



Some men are born to ride or drive, 
The many that they ridden be ; 
A man can but one horse astride, 
Though countless backs of men rides he. 



MISCELLANEOUS. I07 

TO TIME. 

I listened oft within the caverns still 

For thy voice, O Time ; 
I sought upon the lonely dale and hill 

Steps where I might climb 

Unto the height beyond ; 

But vain — no magic wand 
Clove the dark night — alone I heard the rill 

Trickling to the slirne. 

No gentle stellar ray, 

No splendor of the day 
Was lasting — all in darkness faded, till 

Life seemed a mime. 

Beside the cliff, unto the wave I spake, 

" Wilt thou rage, O sea? " 
No answer came, except the ceaseless break, 

Deep and sweet to me ; 

I strayed the river's shore, 

And heard the torrents roar, 
And listened as would echoes chance to wake 

In the mountain's lea ; 

The voicings only said, — 

" Our footprints are ahead 
Upon the pathway which thou wilt forsake, 

And with us be." 



Weeds flourish only when commingled., 
Plants to prosper must be singled ; 
Evil like the weeds will strive, 
Good with good alone can thrive. 



I08 MISCELLANEOUS. 

THE SHELL OF FORM. 

How oft the shell of form 
Is like a curtained shrine, 
A shell which can not warm, 
A light which can not shine. 

Within its colored sides 
May be a stainless pearl, 
Without, the ceaseless tides 
Of life's great ocean swirl. 

How often form may be 
A rumbling sullen bar, 
The drifting bark asea 
Beholds no beacon star ; 

For cliffs of pride uprear, 
And shoals of class arise, 
To bar the haven near 
Which love to none denies. 

But love's great ocean's roll, 
And time's deep eddying sway, 
Will cleave the cherished shoal, 
And wear the cliffs away. 



Blue eyes a tender light will gleam, 
And pretty will the hazel seem ; 
Though brighter are the dark to me, 
Would that with me were all the three 
To cheer me with their wiles — 
To charm me with their smiles. 



MISCELLANEOUS; 109 

VOICES FROM A DEEP. 

From the silent night 
Comes a song of gladness, 
From the mountains still 
Wakes the echoing trill ; 
Like a far delight 
Mingled with a sadness, 
The voices from a deep companion us 
at will. 

Are the phantoms drear 
From a void here only ? 
Are the angel throngs 
Hovering with the songs ? 
Ah, forever near, 
A voicing to the lonely 
Is good, or doubt, or ill, as he of kith 
belongs. 

In the babbling streams 
Is music in all sweetness, 
From the leafy trees 
Come anthems of the breeze ; 
Where the twilight dreams 
Among the groves, with fleetness 
The shadows flit around to censure 
or to please. 

On the ocean shore 
Moans the ceaseless billow ; 
From the cliffsides bleak 
We hear the caverns speak ; 



IIO MISCELLANEOUS. 

Like the scenes of yore 
Which hover round our pillow. 
The voices ever come to soothe or 
vengeance wreak. 

In the stainless sky 
We see no ill to-morrow, 
If the clouds are near, 
The storm wind may apppear ; 
Who can quiet buy, 
Or can respite borrow, 
If a silent voice is never to him dear ? 



EARTHLY JOYS. 

Shall there be in every joy 

Some alloy? 
Must the gold of life we gain 
Know a baser metal's stain? 
Will the sunset in the sky 

Fade and die ? 

There must be in every joy 

Some alloy ; 
Gladness may our portion be, 
Heaven await for you and me, 
Yet a sigh — but a sigh, 
Tells alloy of pain is nigh. 

Can our paths be lined with flowers, 
Dainty ever blooming flowers, 



MISCELLANEOUS. 1 1 1 

And no thorns nor branches sere 

Rise anear ? 
Can we look upon the hours 
Without fear — without fear ? 

Pansies rare glow tinted light, 
Gold improves the lilly white, 
Night and day, day and night, 
Contrast good and ill ; 
Only by the contrast we 
Find the joy which is to be ; 
Never pure — never pure, 
Earthly joys instill. 



REVKRY. 

The passing clouds light- woven seem 
To swiftly flee before the gaze, 
And beams of life's fair transient dream 
Flit from the past's erasing haze. 

The cherished thoughts of moments gone 
Seem like the stars within the sky, 
Through rifts of cloud to gleam anon, 
Like memories which never die. 

Fond memories, which softly glow 
Upon the pathways of the past, 
Where we in thought would fondly know 
Again the joys to sweet to last. 



112 MISCELLANEOUS. 

O gracious hour, how sweet to feel 
That quietude alone with thee, 
Where sweet remembrances reveal 
Thy wondrous peace, O Revery. 

Amid the wilds, where waving flowers 
Are blooming on the vine clad hills, 
Recall we not the happy hours 
Of childhood's play by babbling rills? 

Again we hear the songs of yore, 
As o'er the shaded paths we stray, 
Where merry youths, in times before 
We passed a fondest summer day. 

How dear appears our early home, 
The olden gate, the winding lane, . 
The yellow woodbine's rustic dome, 
'Neath which we read and dreamed of fame. 

We see the moss clad roof and walls, 
The fireside blaze so cosy bright, 
Where fancy's mirth in careless scrawls 
How oft to paint was our delight. 

The white walled school upon the hill, 
Where grew the stately poplar trees, 
There well we did the teacher's will, 
But harder strove a maid to please ; 

As recess came, a rose to place 
Upon her desk in secret, lest 
She in a ruddier glow might trace 
The simple tale that rose expressed. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 113 

Yet, now beneath the shrouding pines 
I see the mound, the sunken stone ; 
My heart a throb of sadness finds, 
For here of all I am alone. 

Alone awhile, O world with thee, 
Of thee, O world, my fate to know ; 
I am a waif upon a sea, 
By tempests driven to and fro. 

I follow on where they have led, 
And wait the night, perhaps, a dawn 
Lights emperean skies, and fled 
Has every cloud where they have gone. 



THE BABE OF THE MOON, 

As softly the lamp of the night 
Cast a sheen on the wide dipping main, 
And the sands in the shimmering light 
Re-echoed the billows' refrain, 
Came the gleam of the tiniest star, 
And gemmed with its pureness the blue ; 
Flowed the murmuring brook o'er the bar, 
And chanted an anthem anew. 

In stillness all life was asleep, 
Save the brook and the wave of the sea, 
Till the glow of the dawn o'er the deep 
Woke the song of the bird on the lea ; 
Then swiftly the orb of the day 



114 MISCELLANEOUS. 

Arose like the flash of a shield, 

As. a host in its martial array 

Might sweep o'er a carnage strewn field. 

From the radiance fled the fair gleam, 
And the moon nnto paleness did wane, 
As the orient glow of the sheen 
Relit the aerial main ; 
But a cloud of the amethyst hue, 
With wings softly tinted with gold, 
Came over the ethereal blue, 
And its veil did a treasure enfold ; 

For a babe to the Queen of the Moon 
Had been born on the evening before, 
And the arbor of love breathed a tune, 
Which was heard on a far away shore ; 
But its sire was a mortal — though fair 
Was the hour of its innocent sleep, 
Unto mortal alone it was heir, 
To be bourne by the cloud o'er the deep. 

The queen called the mists from the stream, 

As it flowed on its emerald bed, 

Like the haze of a beautiful dream 

The mantle the baby o'erspread ; 

In a cradle of radiant pearl, 

Like snow as it glistens at morn, 

She nestled the wee baby girl, 

By the wings of the cloud to be borne, 

Away o'er the wide azure deep, 
Far away to the wave bounded isle ; 



MISCELLANEOUS. 115 

In the watch of the starlight to sleep, 
In the joy of the sunshine to smile ; 
The bright roving rays of the day, 
As they passed to encharm the fair dale, 
Softly paused where the wee baby lay, 
To peep through the cloud woven veil ; 

They sang in their joy a refrain, 

That lulled it to sleep in its car, 

And the winds gently bore the glad strain 

Where the far away Karth valleys are ; 

Then the brightest of rays led before, 

And the lesser ones followed behind, 

On their airy way unto the shore, 

Till by the Karth mountains they wind. 

Thus on, ceaseless onward they glide, 
A triumph the swift passing throng, 
Bach stain of the darkness to hide, 
As resplendent the spears flashed along ; 
Then over the white crested sea, 
They sped to the silver lined strand, 
In the shade of a high mountain's lee, 
Their burden to rest on the strand ; 

When gently the veil of the cloud 

Had dissolved, and the flashings did fade, 

From the cradle was lifted the shroud 

By zephyrs which breathed from the glade ; 

To a cave of the wild mountain high, 

To an arbor of roses and vine, 

They carried the babe of the sky, 

And guarded each day at her shrine. 



Il6 MISCELLANEOUS. 

The humming birds gathered the dew,. 
And the sweets of the berry and flower,. 
And nourished the child till she grew 
Ivike the blossoms the cave did embower ; 
Like her mother, the Queen of the Moon, 
With the wealth of her beauty and love, 
To grant unto mortals the boon 
Of the beauty of regions above. 



ELEGY ON THE GRAVE OF A TRAMP. 

Here silent rests a human form, 
Called noble man, ere life had fled, 
He felt a chill, but not alarm, 
And slept — the mortal man was dead. 

The drifting leaves his shroud became, 
The wild winds sang a sad lament ; 
And though, unknown to wealth or fame, 
A tall cliff is his monument. 

The rugged ledges ask me heed 
The words inscribed in unseen lines — 
A child of earth, a broken reed, 
A wanderer a refuge finds. 

. Can grandeur have a grander tomb 
Than is his last eternal home ? 
How puny is the marble room, 
Compared with his blue vaulted dome. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 117 

Can fame or greatness slabs upraise 
Like the great cliff which guards his sleep ? 
Can lines inscribed for other days, 
Grant else than is his slumber deep ? 

He lived, and wished for naught from Earth, 
Except, his life, which man disdained ; 
He died — and left his moulding worth, 
Like all who earthly wealth have gained. 

His riches few were cast aside 
With smiles — his life without a moan ; 
Can he who lives for pomp decide 
To die, and utter not a groan ? 

Thus ended all his hopes, and we 
Can ask no more than he has found — 
Forgotten, where eternity 
Will roll, yet, answer not a sound. 

Forgotten, like the grains of sand 
Which through our fingers swiftly glide — 
Forgot — a name upon the strand, 
Erased forever by the tide. 

The world rolls on as rolls a wave, 
And levels mounds, both low and high ; 
Life treads relentless on the grave, 
And grants not solace of a sigh. 

It matters not if no one grieves, 
The grave is like in yard or wild ; 
Who sinks to rest, sweet rest receives, 
If he with God is reconciled. 



Il8 MISCELLANEOUS- 

DANCE OF THE GHOULS. 

In a cold and silent city 
Once I heard a mournful ditty, 
Like the weird uncanny chanting 

Of the ghouls ; 
In the winds about me roaming, 
In the shadows of the gloaming, 
Were the laughter and the canting 

Of the ghouls. 

As they danced beneath the moon, 
Danced to their discordant tune, 
Every mound had lights anear its 

Slab of white ; 
And I listened — ah, I listened, 
Like a soul thus newly christened 
To communion with the spirits 

Of the night. 

Bluish lights about the graves 
Fled within the shadow caves, 
And the ghostly forms gyrated 

In a stream ; 
Ah, they danced — danced together,. 
And I sadly wondered whether 
In that city I was fated 

Thus to dream. 

Then the ghouls — laughing ghouls r 
Sang to me the secret rules 
Of the hidden Hadean region 



MISCELLANEOUS. 119 

Of the dead ; 
Lands the spirits of the dying 
Dimly see, my soul was spying, 
Plainly gazing where the legion 

Souls have fled. 

In a light electric blue, 
Mountains rose of every hue, — 
Like a meteor was each river 

Swift and deep ; 
Glowing from their own emotions, 
Were the rolling radiant oceans, 
Tossed by winds — by winds which ever 

Seemed asleep. 

There was neither sun nor moon, 
Nor were morning, night nor noon, 
And no spirit paused to dream on 

Space or time ; 
They were flitting as if flies, 
Flitting wingless — and their eyes 
Shone the soul within them — demon 

Or divine. 

All were blind — ever blind, 

Save they looked updh their kind, 

And the soul light painted ever 

Kvery hue ; 
Oft unnoticed they each other, 
And a sister and a brother, 
Not ' en rapport ' truly never 

Other knew. 

But the ghouls — ah, the ghouls, 



I2Q MISCELLANEOUS. 

As they sang the ghostly rules, 
Ever danced in strange communion 

To the tune ; 
They were there of either sex, 
But their passions only vex, 
For they cursed and yelled in union 

With the rune. 

Ah, they danced — danced — danced, 
And they circled and advanced 
In the dismal vapors seeming 

Their delight ; 
Though the bright electric blue 
Flowed on vales of every hue, 
Not a ray was ever gleaming 

On their night. 

Then they yelled in frenzied mirth, 
" We have brothers on the Earth, 
And their bodies are a swelling 

From their greed ; " 
" They are feeding there to-day, 
The widow is their prey, 
And the orphan's home is knelling 

In its need ; " 

" But they'll dance — dance — dance, 
To our runes they shall advance 
In the dismal Hadean damn-fires 

Of the ghouls;" 
" They are there of either sex, 
But their passions only vex ; 
They are goblins — they are vampires — 

They are ghouls." 



MlSCKIvIvANEOUS. 121 

LIFE'S ELEGY. 

I wandered far o 1 er land and sea., 
I saw the lighted festal hall, 
And heard the wail of misery 
Above the prompter's strident call. 

Upon the dark and silent street, 
Except, the sound of quickening tread, 
Or ruthless whir of driven sleet. 
There comes the cry, — O give me bread. 

Who has not heard the robin sing 
"The burden of a matin lay ; 
Yet, it has felt the talon's sting 
•Before the notes had died away. 

Why softly treads the timid deer, 
To startle at the rustling leaf? 
Why should with darkness waken fear, 
And morning bring so often grief? 

The tiniest mites within the air, 
The monarchs of the sea and plain., 
Live only to a life ensnare, 
•Strive ever to give pain for pain. 

And is it so with man, I ask ? 
Once more retrace the lighted hall .; 
Upon the street a sullen mask 
Is penury — the sleet the pall. 

thee, O world, why is it thus 

1 ask — must this forever be ? 



122 MISCELLANEOUS e 

Must life be ever ravenous, 
And ever man know misery ? 

Thy answer is, — We little know 
The workings of an endless time ; 
Man's days may be for weal or woe, 
His portion dreary heights to climb ; 

Within a book of endless leaves 
Is life the turning of a page, 
And happy he who well believes 
A fairer lot his heritage. 



SOLILOQUY. 



Asleep upon my couch one night, 
O'erburdened with a troubling dream, 
Around me danced a gleeful sprite, 
And mischief from its eyes did gleam. 

I saw the world, alike a ball 
Of downy fleece float in the sky, 
Resplendent rays did gently fall 
On land and sea and never die. 

The hills in sunny tintings shone, 
The sea like crystal waves became, 
And by an unseen hand were strown 
Seeds of gold as showers of rain ; 

Showers upon the low winds borne, 
Caressed the trees which stately grew, 



MISCELLANEOUS. 123 

The coves and valleys to adorn 
With colors of the morning dew. 

At this, the sprite appeared to sigh, 
Then danced on wave, on crag and tree, 
Till, with a hideous, gleeful cry, 
It quickly hid away from me ; 

But only for an instant, when 
I scarce forgot its frenzied mirth, 
Like to an imp, swift back again 
It came, and cast upon the Earth 

A fog, a gloom which all entombed, 
Then monsters ranged with fearful rage ; 
The day was .gone, the Karth was doomed., 
And man must endless war engage, 

A lovely vision then appeared, 
And knelt beside the bed and me, 
So fair of form and mien, she cheered 
My soul, then filled with mystery^ 

She placed beside my couch a book, 
And slowly turned each lettered page, 
Yet dared I not upon it look, 
Though there appeared the golden age, 

I turned away. My maddened brain 
Failed to discern that golden dawn ; 
And as I strove to look again, 
7 Twas night, my vision fair was gone. 

There was the volume at my side, 



124 MISCELLANEOUS. 

The moonbeams lit the lettered rhyme ; 
I read,, ere it away did hide, 
This token of a better time. 

" There was a time when strife was not, 
For love alone did reign supreme ; 
Malicious passion ne'er had bought 
With blood of man a life serene." 

Swift passed a cloud before the ray. 
And darkness did the pages stain, 
Yet, ere it hid from me away, 
I read. "All this will be again." 

Once more I saw a fairest world, 
And still again the hour of woe, 
When madness all its fierceness hurled 
On human slaves swept to and fro ; 

And hope and love that dark illumed, 
An angel came with words of peace ; 
Then tyrant's power forever doomed, 
Gave all mankind this world's increase. 

Then rising from my room to pass, 
A vision came again to me, 
I looked, and heard, and knew, alas ! 
This generation was not free. 

Appeared a man's so fleetful day 

As if a grain of drifting sand, 

That carelessly did hide away, 

By tempests blown, by zephyrs fanned ; 



MISCELLANEOUS. 125 

Although, thus blindly fleeing on, 
'Twas guided by the hand of Time, 
Till it a destined path had gone ; 
Then o,er it other grains did climb. 

I heard the words: " The passing hour 
Seems ill, with every hope forlorn, 
Yet, from the mire will bloom the flower, 
And from despair are blessings born ; " 

" If labor here is but to build 
A step to help mankind arise, 
The past is well — the soul is filled 
With peace, with man we sympathize." 

* 'The nations come, they live and die, 
And others flourish o'er the grave, 
Obeying laws which none defy ; 
Thus life flows in a mighty wave." 

" They all aspire to higher aim, 
And each proclaims a hidden law, 
A sullen ill each overcame, 
Which those preceding ne'er foresaw." 

"O man, think not this life of thine 
Is other than a linking wheel, 
Revolving all with one design, 
To higher thought and end reveal." 

" The toiler at the early morn, 
May see the gleam of Hope, his guide, 
And though, with fading sunset lorn 
His longings in the darkness hide ; " 



126 MISCELLANEOUS. 

" He dreams again of times to come, 
When 'neath a ban he shall not be, 
When fellowship of man is won — 
And this, they say is anarchy." 

A light then glinted through the shroud 
Which canopied the vale and hill ; 
Though man beheld it not, a cloud 
Was rifted when the voice was still. 

come the time when man will know 
That peaceful toil will well repay 
The life, the love we here bestow 

On man, with light of fairer day. 

1 see the precious seeds now sown 
In human hearts, as coals of fire, 
To warm the adamantine stone, 
To which our beings now aspire. 

I see the shoot break from the cell, 
In purity to sometime bloom, 
Yet, ere the day to man foretell 
Dark selfness waits a nearing doom, 

For on the air a voicing faint 
Comes whispering o'er a sunlit sea, 
The hills and groves repeat its plaint — 
Its breathings are humanity. 

I listen to the gentle sound, 
Which lightly falls as morning dew, 



MISCELLANEOUS. I27 

Refreshening the hallowed ground, 
Made thus by labor of a few. 

To me it tells the dearest tale 
Of freedom's hope, of thralldom's end, 
When war and greed can not avail 
And man oppress, or realms extend. 

Then work will find a recompense 
In happy homes, in simple needs, 
Where grow the joys of innocence, 
And love's delight in gracious deeds. 

Can discontent or doleful care 
Within that golden state remain, 
When man will man's each sorrow share, 
And lust for gold can never stain ? 

Ah, ever on will intellect 
Progress towards the cherished goal, 
In guidance of an Architect, 
Who will predestined plans unroll. 



This changeful casket of the soul 
Is but the dross, in which the gold 
Is simply held until the scroll 
Of transient night away is rolled. 

Until man in his heart can feel 
A purer love, and well can see 
That every act of life is real, 
He keeps below his destiny. 



I2g THE DEMON OF THE CAVERN. 



THE DEMON OF THE CAVERN. 

I. 

There is a mighty cavern, and its roof 
Is azure filled with stars. The walls are snow, 
A towering precipice, and blended woof 
Of bright aurora streams in curtains flow, 
Festooning from each airy arch, aloof 
From purpling shades which linger far below ; 
The floors are silver, and their glistening light 
Makes mazy brilliance in a world of night. 

II. 

That cave is night. Could night intenser seem, 
If framed of blackness, or a void could be 
A sole description ? If my wanton theme 
With measured tread did cross a sunless sea, 
Or if, in phantasy or maddened dream 
Were painted all of ill and misery, 
Within that cave that picture might endure, 
And streams of fire make night but doubly sure. 

ill. 
'Twas there a demon fierce and sullen dwelt, 
And roamed at pleasure in a weird disguise ; 
His form seemed frozen fire, naught to melt, 
Yet, burn incessant, and his glowing eyes 
Were meteors ; while the hands which felt 
For prey were many deaths — each fairest prize 
A human creature — and for garments he 
Had cloud and storm, or frost and glassy sea. 



THE DEMON OE THE CAVERN. 1 29 
IV. 

Some said the Demon's robes were purest gold 
Inwove with sparkling crystals, which anon 
Did turn to jet. The half has not been told 
By reckless argonauts who there have gone, 
For most of them rest in the cavern cold , 
While he, stern guardian, grins, and looks upon 
Their skeletons — O bold of heart, to say 
A being thus could have so fair array. 

v. 

Man robes the form, but this the Demon thought 
Was useless, for no form was fixed to him ; 
It was his mood which from surroundings caught 
The garments of the air, and he would trim 
The clouds and winds and night and day and what 
Might suit his pleasure ; yet, if they were slim, 
He sometimes changed himself to ambient air, 
And slept within some portion of his lair. 

VI. 

Such gentle sleep, the very waves of light 
Were calmed, until an opaque glimmer cast 
A gloaming o'er his couch — then, with affright 
He roused from dream, and peace, so quickly past, 
Changed with a thought to dread tumultuous 

night, 
Which rolled across a great and wiery vast 
In sullen billows — or, less gracious, framed 
A formless thing into a form inflamed. 

VII. 

Full many shapes this Demon had, 'tis true, 
Like genii of the winds and woods and seas ; 
When one had fled, another did renew, 



130 THE DEMON OF THE CAVERN. 

Each fickle as a summer woodland breeze ; 
And he, perhaps, as all bad genii do, 
Must Devil seem, or else, be ill at ease, 
So in the cavern he did labor well 
With much delight to make his home a HelL 

VIII. 

He was an artist of uncommon art, 
Sylvanus could not stroke the brush as fine ; 
His wondrous pictures were not of the heart, 
But no less rapturous — although not divine. 
The vernal woods and flowers, forsooth, no part 
Could have where crystal wastes alone did shine, 
But every form fantastic, every shade 
Of rainbow hues were on his walls portrayed. 

IX. 

There grandeur made sublime, and harmonies 

Were buided up in tiers against the sky ; 

Deep moveless rivers, crisping glassy seas, 

And falling snows, although no clouds were nigh, 

The living moving figures of the breeze, 

The starry gleams, the moonlight, and the high 

Arisen sunshine, mixed in colors rare, 

Were blended so that all were pictured there. 

x. 

But, wanton was the Demon, and the height 
Of beauty, art, magnificence must fall 
Beneath a passion like a maddened night, 
Which whirled and surged in answer to his call ; 
For, with his mood did change his form, and 

blight, 
The gloom, and cloud and storm must bury all 



THE DEMON OE THE CAVERN. 131 

Which charmed a moment, ere his envious eye 
Beheld the beauty, and bade beauty die. 

XI. 

Then roamed that mighty cavern Death and cold, 

The dread of slumber, and more dreadful hours 

'Of misery, disease, and Famine bold — 

A wolf which haunts the lost, ere it devours ; — 

The phantoms of the air, the memories old 

Returning with the unrelenting showers, 

The ebbing life blood, and the yawning grave, 

Were manifold within the Demon's cave. 

XII. 

Like demi-gods of time, like genii famed 
For dear amours, this Fiend of Night did seek 
A gentle creature, by his fierceness tamed 
To love him. — One as fair as she was weak, 
He found within a southern land, and framed 
Her image in his heart. This maid, as meek 
As dew drops 'neath the all controlling sun, 
Like them would have dissolved ere he had won. 

XIII. 

The Demon clasped her to his heart, — a heart, 
If icebergs beat the strains of love's desire, 
And on his tempest wings did northward dart, 
Where rose the cavern walls of night and fire ; 
There by her side, he vowed no more to part 
With one he loved, — that he would be a sire 
Ere midnight day and midday night would pass — 
But vows were useless, and he moaned, — alas ! 

XIV. 

-She lay in trance, as cold as very stones 
Of ice which high did pinnacles uprear ; 



132 THE DEMON OF THE CAVERN. 

In truth, this maiden was not flesh and bones, 
To flush with pleasure, or to quake with fear, 
But, still as fair, a thing as Heaven owns 
And gives to Earth.— Within that cavern drear, 
In death-like trance so breathlessly she slept, 
The Demon groaned and raged and cursed and 
wept. 

xv. 

He was inconstant as the silvery moon 
Which waxed and waned, — as men inconstant are; 
The northern lights his cavern did illume, 
And in the dome still shone full many a star, — 
' Twas then he cried : "Not mine remorseful gloom, 
Which hides the light of love — I go afar, 
Where love awaits my beckoning to wed : " 
Then, changed to cloud beyond the cave he fled. 

XVI. 

Yet, ere he went, he wove a subtle veil 

Of gnats, mosquitoes, and of poisonous air, 

And placed it round the couch, where deathly pale 

The maiden slept — and then, with talent rare, 

Arranged the figures of a fairy tale, 

Inwoven with soft light — so wondrous fair, 

It caught the colors of the sunlit mist, 

And seemed all purple, gold and amethyst; 

XVII. 

This second curtain he arranged in lines 
Which cast a shimmering glamour on the floor; 
The Demon's art was such, the breathing winds 
Would winnow music from each silken pore, 
And so apparent real were mazy blinds 



THE DEMON OF THE CAVERN. 133 

Which hid the entrance of the cavern door, 
That those without saw not the prison net, 
And those within must look without and fret. 

XVIII. 

Ah, as his madness planned revengeance sweet 
On one he raped from happier lands, his zeal 
Much like the lovers of to-day, complete 
In infamy, would ever, ever seal 
His chosen in a tomb — in that retreat 
Despairingly to live, although the weal 
Of happiness without shone like a star — 
A nickering gleam of hope, alas, so far. 

XIX. 

' Twas finished : Like a meteor he shot 
High in the air, and then, did look adown 
Upon his love, so truly, dearly caught 
In webs of gnats, that he did almost drown 
In ecstacy of his remorseless thought ; 
Then, many a nameless adjective and noun 
He loudly yelled, until the cavern shook 
With echoes of his glee in every nook. 
xx 

All women will dissimulate, and seem 
What they are not ; and thus, the artful maid, 
Though not of flesh and bones, did mold a theme 
Within her fertile mind, and be afraid, 
And fainting lie enrobed in dreamless drean ; 
Then when her form upon his couch was laid, 
His prayers and cursings, ravings, made her glad 
To be the cause why he should be so bad. 

XXI. 

But, as he fled upon his passioned wing, 



134 THE demon oe the cavern. 

The smiles coerced again her lips acquaint, 
And glowed upon her cheeks returning springs 
Before became his thundering echoes faint ; 
Ah, thus is women ; when their husbands bring 
Themselves to far off lands, a strange attaint 
Is molded in them — though they love or not, 
' Tis all the same when husbands once are caught 

XXII. 

In truth, this maiden was a virgin too, 
As well as wife, and this is some excuse ; 
She could not love the Demon, nor be true 
To one who heaped injustice on abuse, 
So as he sped away, without ado 
She rose — for drapery she had no use, 
For flowed her golden hair about her form, 
To hide but little, yet, by hiding charm. 

XXIII. 

In truth, she had a form ; all women must, 
If they are loved, be molded into shape ; 
I think the angels have a perfect dust, 
Compact in outline, and like women, drape 
Themselves in garments ; yet, that magnet lust r 
Which gets weak mortals often in a scrape, 
May be amiss with them — still, beauty rare 
Must be in form, if pictured in the air. 

XXIV. 

My theme is moral, — but, not woven cloud, 
It must descend to Earth where forms abide. 
The maiden woke, and saw the poison shroud, 
The gnats, mosquitoes, like a billow wide, 
That swayed around her ; then, beyond that crowd 
She saw the tapestries the winds did guide 



THE DEMON OF THE CAVERN. 135 

In rhythm of the dance of every ray, 

And wondered why such contrast near her lay. 

xxv. 

But innocence and nakedness appeared 
The victim sought, for soon, the living net, 
Voracious, pressed around her, and upreared 
A canopy through which no rain could wet, 
So dense and murky — still, she nothing feared ; 
Her placid glance each tiny ravage met, 
Her voice encharmed, ambrosia from her breath 
Was antidote to all the germs of death. 

XXVI. 

Then as she strayed the cavern, every art 
The Demon mastered for revenge, she found 
A zeal in changing, till, in every part 
The glistening floor became a fertile ground, 
Where rivers flowed, and waterfalls did dart 
From ledge to ledge, while on the walls around 
Were flowers, forests, and a velvet moss, 
Which sunrise kissed, and sunset gilt with floss. 

XXVII, 

All women must be loved to lovely be, 

And in return will love most anything ; 

A poodle dog is precious, — Ah, in thee, 

O woman, is an overflowing spring 

Which bids us drink. In man that fount may be, 

And like a geyser, feel the heat and fling 

Its rapturous ardor high, and soon subside, — 

From thee, O woman, flows a ceaseless tide. 

XXVIII. 

So ebbed and flowed within the maiden's breast 
A turbulence which naught could ever still ; 



136 thk demon of the cavern. 

She would permit the gnats securely rest 

Upon her bosom, there to drink their fill, 

But they, unused to airy food, were pressed 

By hunger to await a denser rill ; 

Then she returned unto her own, the flowers, 

The waving trees, the streams and mossy bowers, 

XXIX. 

Who chanced to see her in that sylvan wild, 
Would think a nymph did guard a cherished tree; 
If by a brook she strayed, an Oread mild 
Her presence seemed, more beautiful to be 
As laved her limbs in waters undefiled ; 
Yet, like a queen of Naiads, one might see 
Her lovely form in dance with mystic Pan, 
And gaze entranced as swift away she ran. 

XXX. 

While roaming thus, she saw a pool below, 
And Psyche like, must look beyond the brim ; 
Her nakedness was all the pool did show, 
The snowy bosom and the shapely limb, 
Until her golden hair did softly flow 
Upon the waters ; then, the mirror dim 
Portrayed her form in shimmering robes of gold. 
Which gave a pleasing grace to every fold. 

XXXI. 

Unlike Narcissus, by her image fair 
To be encharmed, and linger till she died, 
She mortal like, would robe in beauty rare 
A form of beauty which have gods denie4 
To all, save Psyche — who from envious pride,. 
Aphodite did lure to many a snare ; 



THE DEMON OF THE CAVERN. 137 

But my fair beauty was to gods unknown, 
And man beheld her but to be alone. 

XXXII. 

Thus safe was beauty, though an apple cast 

IBy Bros at her feet, with Venus near, 

Would find that love's reward must be surpassed, 

For Ivove to hold the title to her dear ; 

The symmetry of that soft glowing east 

Divine, ecstatic, fairer must appear, 

And she pursued with eagerness her theme 

Reflected with her image from the stream. 

XXXIII. 

She saw the Demon's mazy veils of light 

Vibrating with caresses of the breeze, 

And soon her arms, so shapely, round and white, 

A bundle of the silken hues did seize ; 

No more a nymph to rove, the maid did dight 

Bach festive color as the tintings please, 

And then designed and cut and trimmed and made 

Them into dresses as her whims persuade, 

XXXIV. 

She found a niche within the cavern's wall, 

In this retreat she made her sewing room, 

And there a tiny crisping waterfall 

She chained, to operate the web and loom ; 

She carded first the tapestries, and all 

The winds and tinted light, a babbling flume 

Did bear away, except, the threads of gold 

And crystal, which were then on shuttles rolled. 

XXXV. 

' Tis said Arachne wove in rare design, 
And once competed with the warlike queen ; 



I38 THE DEMON" OF THE CAVERN, 

Ah, ne'er my heroine would have lain supine 
Before Minerva, nor could envious spleen 
Have formed a spider, — though by arts divine^ 
If in the contest was my maid serene ; 
For, truly she such triumph there would win, 
The goddess must forgive her every sin . 

XXXVI. 

The toil completed, she majestic stands 
Before the mirror of her loveliness ; 
Her robes of purest gold, with crystal bands 
In folds symmetric linked, did softly press 
A mold which shone like sunlight on the sands 
When ebbing billows cease in their caress ; 
And jewels wreathed her wavy hair, and formed 
A bright tiara which each wave adorned. 

XXXVII. 

The winds have prying eyes — and voices too — 
Can they restrain themselves from gossip dear ? 
A woodland breeze did tell the tale anew 
Unto a fleeter wind — it o'er the sere 
High mountains hurried, and, with much ado 
Told every gale which passed — till, far and near 
A fairy tale was heard, and every shore 
Reechoed what it heard — and often more. 

XXXVIII. 

Then, Argo turned its prow to cleave the seas, 
And fearless men on board the welkin raise ; 
The foaming wake behind the vessel flees, 
On mountains hoar the ardent seamen gaze ; 
Adventure moves the heart, the wafting breeze 
Swells every sail, and blends its matin lays 



THE DEMON OF THE CAVERN- 139 

With voicings of the white crowned waves, which 

roll 
Upon the rugged isle and rocky shoal. 

XXXIX 

Who says adventure died with ancient Greece? 
That man to-day dares not the Clashing Isles ? 
But bid the Saxon seek the Golden Fleece, 
Without a dove to guide, he daunts defiles 
Unknown, unnamed — if dangers will increase 
Upon the journey, he serenely smiles 
On all — and ardent, hunts the cherished goal, 
Though but to bleach his bones, or scorch his soul. 

Xly. 

Thus did the sailors to the tale respond, 
That coming far, by distance was enhanced 
To sweet perfection — and each treasure fond 
Ivike golden images before them danced, 
And sang the wonders of the cave beyond ; 
And thus, I leave them; for, the Demon chanced 
Through unrequited love, to seek his own 
First love he left when he had northward flown. 

XXyl. 

This maid, capricious, was a very queen 
Arrayed in jewels of no earthly dower; 
She strayed the cavern with a step serene, 
And loved herself more tenderly each hour, 
Until, the Demon passed his gates between ; 
Surprised, he there beheld no sleeping flower, 
Or woeful maid — and she, in more surprise, 
Could scarce believe she saw him with her eyes, * 



140 THE DEMON OF THE CAVERN. 

XI.II. 

Unlike the nymyh beloved of Pan, who specl 
Despairing until reeds her form became, 
Unlike to Daphne, who would never wed, 
Though urged to lull Apollo's ardent flame, 
No laurel her's to wreathe a victor's head, 
Nor tuneful Shrinx to lead the march of fame ; 
This maid beheld the Demon and did faint ; 
Though mortal like, it was, perhaps, as quaint. 

xun. 
He little did expect his grim design 
To be thus thwarted, and for cause did seek ; 
He saw the vessel wafted o'er the brine r 
The pallid maid before him still and meek, 
Then, maddened unto frenzy, did divine 
A reason, and a vengeance he must wreak ; 
For truly, she in robes of gold did wait 
The bold gallants an ear the cavern's gate. 

XI.IV. 

His madness turned to glee : He swiftly bore 
The one he cherished from the shrouded cave. 
Far o'er the ocean, to a northern shore; 
Then, like a zephyr drifting on the wave, 
He sought the vessel, and his hoarded lore 
Of deviltry did sunny lines engrave 
Upon the waters, and the sylvan strand, 
Like pleasant harbors bidding them to land. 

xi,v. 
Thus, lulled to slumber by the ceaseless charm 
Of wondrous scenes in colors bright and rare, 
The voyagers from vigilance disarm, 
• And sing as lovers who for joys prepare ; 



THE DEMON OF THE CAVERN. 141 

'Twas then the Demon waved his filmy arm, 
And clove the woven veil about his lair, 
To frame the darkness for a winding sheet, 
And give the bitter, but reserve the sweet. 

XI^VI. 

No more a zephyr, but a moaning gale, 

He hurls the billows on the vessel's sides ; 

He blinds the stars, and as the nearing wail 

Of breakers answer to the seething tides, 

He rends asunder mast and shroud and sail ; 

Then, helpless on a surging waste abides 

A wreck, and hearts which once did zealous beat, 

Now palpitating long for some retreat. 

XtVII. 

The yawning grave is near — a nearing shore 
Arises bleak and cold, and bulwarks high 
Reecho death amid the sullen roar 
Of winds and waves — the phantoms of the sky, 
Dark as the night of ill, sweep madly o'er 
The riven craft which heeds each heartless cry, 
Till, seamen brave, without a hope forlorn, 
With calmness wait the frenzy of the storm. 

XI/VTlI. 

The moments passed : Then as the Demon grim, 
In frenzied mirth did change from wind to sea, 
From sea to rocks and cliffs and vapors dim, 
To swirl and rage and surge, and quickly be 
All one or each in turn, a wanton whim 
Did seize him to prolong their misery ; 
Then, changing unto gently falling snow, 
He for an hour forgot to swirl or blow. 



142 THE DEMON OF THE CAVERN. 

XLIX. 

As hope returned, the voyagers renew 
Their toiling, and on shore do safely land ; 
Some longed to bid that desert waste adieu, 
Some leave for aye their once united band, 
But, as the white cloud falling quickly drew 
Its silent curtains o'er that desert strand, 
The Demon shaped himself to winter's mold, 
And sat beside them in his robes of cold. 

And as he sat, he whispered in their ears 

The fairy tale : They heard it with delight, 

Until discarded were their hopes and fears, 

And loveliness, with every lure bedight 

To charm them, like reality appears ; 

They reeled and yelled, and o'er the mountains 

white 
In madness hasten — but, the Demon kenn'd 
The moment, and apart did glaciers rend. 

U. 

Down rushed an avalanche to bury them, 
The thunders rolled, and waters sweeping by 
Felt not the arm which sought the tide to stem, 
Heard not the moans of those who faint and die ; 
Loud laughed the Demon at his stratagem, 
And echoes answered echoes, till the high 
Proud mountains smiled upon the morning sun, 
As if they over man had triumph won. 

LII. 

Ah, frantic man his very heart did steal 
To all compassion, and the filmy lure 



THE DEMON OF THE CAVERN. 143 

Arose beyond, beyond — the golden seal 
Was still unbroken, though the rift was sure ; 
Too late the Demon's gain must well reveal 
The method of his vengeance, all obscure, 
Until the hour each argonaut did wreath 
His brow with death, or sow the dragon's teeth. 

1,111. 

My hero, so at home, would form a span 

Of filmy silver o'er a placid lake ; 

The voyagers would gaze as he would fan 

To warmth a picture of the mind, and make 

The other side desired ; then, as they ran 

To reach the goal, he quickly holes would break 

Beneath them, and his crackling voice did seem 

To frightened man like some infernal scream. 

Liv. 

When far away they looked, a river's course 

Was guidance fair which clove the cavern's side ; 

The voyagers to wealth would quit its source, 

On strangest rafts with swiftness down to glide ; 

But, at each helm the Demon was in force, 

To cheer them as they on the rapids ride ; 

He passed the reefs and narrows safe — although 

Each raft to pieces on the rocks did go. 

iv. 

When tired of this, my chosen did expose 

His cavern to the voyagers to fame ; 

Except the ones who starved, or drowned, or froze, 

And thus grim smiling skeletons became, 

They paused to count each other's glossy nose, 

And found that few still held a mortal name ; 



144 the; demon of thk cavkrn. 

That few with shouts of triumph woke the dome, 
So glad to be w T ithin the Demon's home. 
I. VI. 

But as they shouted with excessive glee, 

Its sole possessor builded high a wall 

Around them, and each mortal did agree 

It formed a labyrinth of aisle and hall 

Which soon they wished it was not theirs' to see ; 

They were imprisoned — night and death and all 

The terrors dared before upon them rushed 

With such a stillness that all sounds were hushed. 

I/VTI. 

With unrelenting zeal, the Demon wove 

Mosquitoes with his breath, another veil 

Of many poisons on the arches rove, 

In festoons quivered, hectic red and pale ; 

The argonauts, in fever's madness, strove 

To break the seal, not golden ; yet, the wail 

For far off homes ne'er touched the Demon's heart, 

He gazed and grinned , and then pursued his art. 

h VIII. 
He shaped a ball of purest solid gold, 
Which like a new sun gazed into their eyes, 
And as it floated in the air, and rolled 
Anear, it whispered : "Come, receive thy prize." 
It hid a moment in the poison fold, 
Then reappeared, and man each man denies, 
They bow in worship, fell delirium reigns, 
And hearts are steeled to else than present gains. 
ux. 

Then as they gazed upon the mighty ball 
Of gold, pure gold, so near, and yet so far, 



THE DEMON OE THE CAVERN. 145 

It at their feet within the depths did fall, 
Then o'er a mountain shone alike a star, 
And then, with siren voice to them did call 
From every point, save, where the prisoners are ; 
Enthused, enraged, despaired, they each in turn 
Discover that a will-o-wisp did burn. 

I,X. 
Capricious, as I said before, was he 
Who ruled that region, and not less, the maid 
That lover loved — he unto her did flee, 
And left the argonauts — he would persuade 
That fairest one a mother dear to be — 
At least, to render him her w T ifely aid ; 
Alas ! a year had taught a trick or two ; 
She saw him come, and left for scenes anew. 

IvXI. 

Then wanton winds again did stories tell, 

And listening argonauts discovered soon 

That somewhere in that sullen cave did dwell 

A wondrous creature, fair as fairest noon, 

Who proffered kneaded gold and love and mell — 

Methinks, they gazed too long upon the moon, 

Yet, all was lost with nothing new to gain , 

So banded thus, they chased the idol vain. 

I/XII. 

They much had learned the Demon's wiles and 

snares, 
And he, that moment love enraptured too, 
Thought not to come upon them unawares, 
Although he stormed and often cursed anew — 
A blessing which the argonauts were shares 
With anyone who crossed their spoken view ; 



146 THE DEMON OF THE CAVERN. 

But damn they might, no nearer they became 
To their desires than to the northern flame. 

I,XIII. 

For as the Demon felt his passion wane, 

He stroked his brush anew with subtle taste ; 

The bright auroras lit the airy main 

With orange, green and blue, and o'er the waste 

Vast wilderness of silence — cold, inane, 

The greenish icebergs rose: — Then eager haste 

Some mortal's thought of home — in vain, in vain, 

They are imprisoned in a world of gloom, 

A Demon's home, his cavern and their tomb. 



HOW PLEASANT ARK THE SHADED LANES. 

How pleasant are the shaded lanes 
Which wind around the wooded hill, 
For with us there a joy remains, 
And peace of God is with us still. 

The fragrant blossoms, dainty rare, 
The sunny showers of branch and vine; 
Will lull to sleep thy every care 
And wake anew fond hopes of thine. 

They sing to all a wondrous song 
In gentle sylvan harmonies — 
Who justly treads his way along 
Accord and sweet contentment sees. 



GK-AIDBNN. 147 



CE-AIDKNN. 

Earth, gentle cradle rocked by guardian Hours ! 

Beneath thy coverlets of rosy morn 

A budding life awaits the radiant day ; 

A spark, a ray Divine intenser glows, 

As sways its bed upon the cords unseen, 

Till, sometime shall the cloudlets flee away, 

And night is ever gone. 

A gentle youth 
Strayed o'er a sylvan wild, where forests breathed 
A sigh at death, and sang of life anew, 
And listened to the words which nature speaks 
To all. On rock and leaf he heard a step, 
And sunny beings, Revery and Dream, 
Twin messengers of one who loved him well, 
Beside him stood, and uttered : " Lonely youth, 
Awake and hear the anthems of the Hours ; ' ' 
" As morn arises roseate are the skies, 
The day awakes with gladness and with song, 
And springtime yields a gentle sway to one 
In ruddy sweetness from a noonday bath; 
They fold their arms around the new born flower, 
And it, enrobed in nature's golden hues, 
Will glance from out the hedge upon a world 
That whispers: — I have found another joy : 
But thou, intenser life, shalt soon behold 



148 GK-AIDKNN, 

The one who longs to cheer thy fleeting way 
Unto the waning of a summer's eve." 

He woke. The messengers were gone, yet, by 

his side 
A woman stood. She was as beautiful 
As mortal mind conceives, more beautiful 
Than he who lives where city walls uprear 
Their massiveness to hide unwelcome day, 
Can ever there behold. She said, " Arise, 
Let Gaea greet thee, let her rosy lips 
Meet thine, and drink the tender light from eyes 
Which weep not. Come, and stray with me." 

Thrilled with the gladness of a love new found, 
From dream he rose, to grasp the waiting hand, 
And over flowering meads of fond delight 
He roamed with Gaea, passionate and fair. 
At morn they heard the wild wood's joyous song, 
At noon they rested, and as twilight fell, 
She sang to him the stories old and dear, 
Attuned to wind's and river's murmuring time; 
Yet, on a summer morn the soft array 
Which robed her form in deeper colors glowed, 
Her cheeks were ruddy, and the wavy hair 
Upon her shoulders fell, and hid a mold 
More beautiful in perfect womanhood. 

A fiercer love was his. His being wrapped 
In her fond glance, must like a charmed bird 
Obedient to the force of mightier will, 
With gladness follow where she chose to lead ; 
Oft from a cliff they saw the rivers, dales, 



GK-AIDKNN. 149 

Oft down the steep they raced, to look above, 
And wonder why they chose such grandeur leave ; 
Perhaps, a deer would stray across their path, 
Then she would call it child, and gently say, 
' 4 He is thy brother — ye are all of kin ; 
The zephyr bears sweet odors, and the streams 
Flow from the rock for all of life — and thee." 

Thus passed the hours, until the winter sere 
Found in the morn a blossom sweet and fair, 
At night a leaflet fading in the blast. 
The youth beheld the one he loved, a sleep 
Of death upon her brow. Her pallid cheek 
Would feel no more the impress of his kiss, 
No flush would answer to his burning words. 
The sullen pines o'ercanopied his path 
As from his thoughts he fled, and solitude 
Seemed but the echo of a silent voice 
Of ill. Ah, Death, awaiting Death was near, 
And night, intensest night, the being wound, 
Sole lighted by the glaring of his eyes. 

Down winding steep and chasm, over hills 
Which once were beautiful as morn, he fled 
Until, at last, upon a jagged height 
That seemingly o'erhung a boundless void, 
Undying Hope did whisper, — peace is here. 
Brief was the respite, sere the woods became, 
The glacial rivers moaned, and drifted snows 
Made darkness deeper than the clouded skies ; 
Down from the cliffs he looked. The wide ex- 
panse 
Of vapors rolled their silent billows far, 



I50 GE-AIDENN. 

Or eddying, whirling, surged about his feet, 

A melancholy waste of gloom and death. 

He cried : All vain, all vain is life ! An hour 

We drift, perchance, on placid, sunny waves. 

But quickly, surely will a surge arise, 

And death awaits us, endless sleep is ours." 

Suspense, the thread where hangs our hopes and 

fears, 
An awful burden seems to anxious ones, 
But rift it, and the fate be good or ill, 
Resigned are we — alone the child despairs. 
Thus thought the youth ; a calm his brow o'erclad 
Though he had learned that nature ever holds 
Within her bosom life and death, and gives 
To all the portion by her will decreed. 
The softest breath is sighing o'er a tomb, 
The sweetest anthem knells a requiem, 
And with the mirth that gives delight to life, 
There comes an echo weeping for the dead; 
And thus, the youth, with naught of Earth to love 
Serene, did seek the solitude, to find 
The wished for haven of the wandering soul. 

Within a cave, where walls did mutely gaze 
Upon the bleakness, and upon the form 
That passed along the windings damp and cold, 
A resting place prepared for him he found ; 
Sleep, peaceful sleep, the balm for every ill, 
Awaits his coming, and the soothing thought. 
That he with all he loved will ever rest, 
Like to a dream of beauty, changes all, 
And makes his bed of pebbles roses seem. 



GE-AIDKNN. 151 

He slept, yet, as he slept, a shadow came 
Across his couch, and in that shadow dark 
Appeared the form of Death. How often awe 
Had filled his heart when pleasure's fleeting train 
Had flown before the night of solitude, 
But now the one beside him, gentle, fair, 
Though robed in darkness yet, his brow caressed, 
And said, "I greet thee — evil is not thine, 
For ne'er is ill my presence — rest, sweet rest, 
Companionship will give the shattered soul, 
While joy and hope, and every grief will know 
Forgetfulness when on my bosom laid." 

As one in fevered dream beholds a wraith, 

But waking, finds it gone, the youth awoke 

To feel the bleakness of his lone retreat, 

From which had Death, his friend, forever gone. 

He rose, obedient to a firm resolve 

His destiny to find, though light and dark, 

Fair life and love and even solemn death 

Had locked it from him in a deep recess ; 

Then in that cavern came a guidance fair, 

A light which seemed a new star in a sky 

Pale with the moonlit beam. 

The youth, away, 
Like a freed bird whose joyous wing will cleave 
A purer air, from cleft to cleft arose, 
At length, upon an eminence to stand ; 
Down at his feet were solemn waves, where rolled 
A weird unbroken stillness with the flow, 
And gloomy banks and rocks and cliffs he saw 
Lie round on every hand ; yet, sweetest strains, 



152 GK-AIDKNN. 

Borne from the gloomy shores he gladly heard, 
And down a pathway to the singer fled 
To listen to his song. 

" Comes the fair dawn, 
Yet long, how long, O Time, my portion seems. 
Since darkness hid the beauty of the ray 
Which casts a light Divine upon the path 
O'er which man dreaming follows to the grave; 
E'en now, unconsciously, he slowly wends 
An upward way, oft from a prominence 
To gaze aback upon a vale of tears, 
And there behold the fallen gods of yore ; 
But, blindly on, untaught by error's ways 
He sees no nearing precipice of ill, 
And plunges down where slavery's bands enchain 
How long, how long shall nations rise and fall, 
And man, an atom in a selfish world, 
See not the light which leads him to the goal, 
Which tells him Earth was made alone for him ; 
That as more perfect it arises forth 
From out the chaos of primeval time, 
A spark within him brighter glows, and he 
Advances to his God-like destiny." 

"The morn is beautiful, the hills awake, 

The groves a gladness sing. The brooks repeat 

The melody, and ocean chants a strain, 

That wafted on, and on, the lingering hues 

Of sunset hear, to answer to the call ; 

Like winged lights are echoes through the skies y 

For all the stars resound in harmony. 

All joyous, as when in its cradle lay 



GE-AIDENN. 153 

The infant world. No pause, no discord mars 
The rhythm of all nature, save, alone 
The upward strife, as struggling in its cell, 
The germ immortal hears a distant song, 
And sees a dawning through its mortal shroud." 

As at the singer's feet the listener heard 

The words in cadence sad, though hope and love 

So blended with the sadness, that to him 

Appeared a teacher of another world, 

His being thrilled with joy, for he had found 

A light to lead him on the path of time. 

He said : "I sought in nature's deep retreats, 

In sunny ways, in solemn vaults and tombs, 

With hope to find a one translucent gleam 

To tell me what I am ; but life and death 

Impressed no prints upon my path, except 

The transient luster of a wave, that felt 

The deepening languor of its changeful hue." 

As spake the youth, he saw the singer's form 

Dilate with breathings of inherent fire, 

His eyes, like stars which pierce the airy deep, 

Across the billows cast appeared to see 

The ages gone, and on his glowing brow 

Was knowledge, wisdom of full many years. 

His shroud was parted by the transient air, 

And raising high his hands to One unseen, 

He called a name, thrice called it; then again 

Poured forth the bnrden of his ardent soul. 

"O Time, thy ways eternal know the hour 
When willing Change, the offspring of thy will, 
Conceived, and bare a babe, and gently laid 



154 GE-AIDENN. 

It in a cradle by her hands prepared ; 

Of cloud inwoven with the sunlit hues, 

She formed a veil and draped the swaying couch, 

And sang a mother's fond content and love; 

But, at the lullaby of love, of peace, 

From space, a comet breathing fiery rage, 

Beheld the infant : Lo ! a thousand stars 

Rushed to the rescue, and intensest war 

With frenzied madness filled the startled skies. 

Each dart was winged flame, the thunders rolled, 

To echo and reecho, and the veils 

Of vapors rifted formed anew the vast 

Stern bulwarks of the foes. Thus ages passed 

Garbed with the fumes of hate, till peace ordained, 

Beheld the splendor of a ruling orb, 

A galaxy of stars, while daedal Earth, 

In loveliness as sped the cycles by, 

Roamed in the beauty of aerial seas." 

Like a fond joy in heavenly life revealed, 
Each dot proclaimed its presence in the sky, 
And wakened dawn with glowing colors lit 
The silent, smokeless alters of the world ; 
The orisons arose from hill and dale, 
And ocean felt the breath of day, and raised 
Its voice, with sweetness borne across the plain 
To greet the praises of the joyous grove; — 
" How fair, how fair is this, the present hour, 
When nature kind does from her generous lap 
Give unto all the treasures of her love ; 
Behold, and hearken ! Else than she bestows 
Awaits the passing of a cycle by." 
The crimson clouds of sunset caught the time, 



GK-AIDENN. 155 

They sang, "Awake, O sleeping world, awake, 
The hour is quickly here ! " Then nations rose 
Within the wilds of Asia, and the wastes 
Of Africa were peopled by a horde, 
While Babylon, Assyria, and the land 
Where flows the Nile, and far away Cathay, 
Did temples rear in answer to the song, 
And worship gods of stone. Arisen thus, 
Man blindly surges, or drifts listlessly 
Upon the current of progressive life, 
And seeks a rift — his guide." 

He paused : The sun 
A glory shed upon the sand and shell, 
Its glintings piercing crimson mists upon 
The far horison's verge, where towering clouds 
Seemed mountains of aerial continents. 
The youth beheld the beauty of the morn, 
The tinted ocean, placid skies and waves 
Of light which played in mystery around, 
And uttered : "All is well, is well, except, 
The wanton striving of enlightened man:" 
Then on the sea a speck, a shape, as might 
A wandering bird, or far off sail appear, 
He saw approaching, and the singer's voice 
Was raised in praise anew. The shape, a boat 
Of woven colors canopied with cloud, 
Did gently float across the waves, and rest 
Upon the sands which drifted at their feet. 
The voice was still, the singer's brow was lit 
With quenchless fire supernal, yet, the form, 
The being as a vision fled, and gazed 
The youth, dismayed. 



I56 GE-AIDENN. 

Then sweeter words he heard, 
And by him stood a woman, youthful, fair, 
As lovely as a mountain flower, which sips 
The crystal dew-drops sparkling at the morn; 
She too had heard the song, had seen the brow 
Glow with the radiance of its purity, 
And ere the echoes died upon the air, 
Her words in answer came as life anew. 
Her robings, soft as sunlit spray, were girt 
Around her form with links of crystal wrought, 
And swayed with modulations of the voice 
Which rose and fell in rhythm sweet and low. 

u O world of beauty ! made thus by the soul, 
Which rises from the germ, to think, to know, 
And knowing, find more loveliness its own 
As onward in the path of Time it strays, 
More beautiful thou wilt become, for soon 
The radiance of an ultra-stellar light 
Upon thee pours its love." 

"O soul Divine, 
Though not immortal — as the feigned delight 
To roam in fields elysian, fondest bliss, 
A fair reward by gift of arbiter, 
Is immortality — but soul Divine, 
Progressive evermore in worlds anew, 
Where beauty, peace and fond enjoyment flows 
In purer colors from dissolving gloom, 
Tnou shalt arise, or fall, as will the flame 
Of kindred power illumine or decline: 
Thou art the arbiter, thy will is law, 
And makes thy home a Heaven or a Hell 



GK-AIDENN. 157 

Now and for aye." 

Unto the youth she said : 
The one who sat beside thee was a sage 
Of Babylon, when shone its noonday sun 
Upon the blood stained garments of its king ; 
He lived to live beyond the Magi lore, 
The priestcraft of Judea's fallen shrine, 
The wordly Apis, and the vengeful Bael, 
And drank of rivers flowing from the hills 
Where solitude and contemplation kept 
The secrets of the majesty of God. 
He delved the recess of the waiting fount, 
And dawning, breaking from the living fire, 
Proclaimed the advent of eternal day; 
His being freed from mortal clog, arose 
To greet the kindred flame, and ever he 
Advances to his God-like destiny." 

There beautiful, angelic, with the glow 
Of purity reflected from her face, 
She read the thoughts which flitted in his mind, 
Fondly to say, " I guide thee o'er the sea, 
Beyond the clouds which canopy the world." 
He felt the warmth of tenderness, of love, 
That flowing from her eyes had filled his soul, 
And clasped the offered hand, away to go 
With his companion their ethereal way. 
Upon the sands, the boat of dainty mold, 
Of crystal wrought with veil inwoven mist, 
Awaits her word. They are embarked. It speeeds 
With silent swiftness its aerial course, 
While she continued. 



I58 GE-A1DKNN. 

"Wanderer, I am 
Not mortal, though I was a mortal born 
When Egypt waited for the welcome star 
To rise and tell the flood of Nilus shores : 
My childhood's home was where the turbid stream 
Rolled by the isles, and oft, upon its side 
I watched the sunlight glint the minarets, 
And massive towers of imperial Thebes. 
The hills, the fields and reed lined banks, to me 
Were all in all, though I, a gentle maid, 
Was nurtured in the pastimes of the hour, 
And taught by priests unto the gods to bow." 

"One morn, with wantonness I strayed the way 
Which led without the gates, no thought of ill 
To question whither might my steps pursue; 
Alone the beauty of the morn was mine, 
The balmy air I breathed, and saw the tints 
Of sunlight glitter on the grayish hills, 
And heard the birds their orisons renew 
Of happiness beyond my lot to know. 
Thus passed the day; I saw the river wind 
Across the sands, by monolyths, by tombs, 
And stately piles in other times upreared, 
And heard the creak of beam, the toiling slaves. 
That poured the waters on the thirsting land." 

" When sank the sun to rest, and twilight fell, 
A loneliness companioned me, and then 
Appeared a glimmer from an olden tomb, 
Which bad me thither go. Within the vault 
I saw a light, while on the paven floor 
Appeared a scroll, and came a voice, which said, 



GE-AIDENN. 159 

<: Fear not to read, if reading you may learn." 
I thought I dreamed. As in the trance I lay, 
A form in raiment of the desert clad 
Beside me sat, and from the scroll he read : 
" Mankind, by superstition bound, the chains 
Will tighten, till he rises in his might 
And puts aside the law." 

" Ere said the words, 
The walls transparent seemed, the waters, hills 
And fields were lit, as might the full moon cast 
A sheen upon the evening haze, ,and blend 
All nature in a soft tranquility; 
But quickly rose a more resplendent glow, 
And fled away the moon, as flee the stars 
Before the speeding day: Then, as I gazed, 
A chariot, radiant as the noonday sun, 
Rolled by with flashings dread, while near and far 
A sea of spears in gleaming anger surged 
On throngs bewildered, and the wailings, moans 
Of trampled hosts arose to drown the shouts, 
The triumph of that mighty pageantry." 

' ' ' Twas changed : Where rolled the car, a sullen 

orb 
Cast every side an icy glare, and jets 
Of maddened flame like lightnings darted round. 
Like flies which hasten to the taper's light, 
The facinated hosts beheld the form, 
And bowed beneath its wheels, while rose the 

songs 
Of priests in glad laudation to their gods. 
Filled with the evil of this passing scene, 



l6o GE-AIDENX. 

I cried : Why is it thus? He said : " The law: 
Ambition, self, mold slavery, decay, 
Beneath the wheels of war and priestly might. 
First conquest rolls triumphant up the steep, 
Then priests will glean what war has failed to 

reap ; 
Vice next will follow, then, corruption's train — 
Look once again." 

"The car and grand array 
Was gone. A gloom was sweeping from the sea 
Upon the isles — the waters and the hills 
Were reddened with the dread simoon of death : 
Swift to and fro the frenzied people surged, 
To flee the danger, though they often sought 
The footprints of the danger they abhorred. 
The fair moon hid her face, the stars shone not, 
The sun refused to rise, and darkness fell 
Upon a land were desolation reigned. 

Was it a dream? Or madness wafted o'er me, 

Which filled my soul with sorrows of the hour ? 

But, as I gazed, a dawning softly rose, 

And flowed upon the air a music like 

The triumph of a king. The clamors stilled, 

And there a woman, beautiful and young, 

Was borne upon a car, while every side 

Were silent throngs of people. Some did strow 

Sweet flowers in her path ; but some beheld 

No halo glowing on her brow, nor heard 

The words which drifted from her lips to them. 

Alone the poor, the needy thought to sigh, 

Or waited for the sunshine of her smile." 



GK-AIDENN. l6 1 

Like a stray leaflet blown by autumn's wind, 

My being drifted to the city's gate, 

And there I heard the words, "She bravely dies !" 

I cried : Why die ? Then once again the one 

In raiment of the desert clad, did say, 

"" She put aside the law. — Self is the law 

In home and church and court, and Mammon God, 

A statute written by the hand of man, 

Which makes his world a Hell. — Behold thyself ! 

Let peace and love and sweet humanity, 

Be wings to bear thee where thou wouldest be," 

I looked upon the woman once again, 

.She was myself — I woke, to know my lot — 

And die to live anew." 

She paused : The boat 
Swayed 'neath the glitter of its speeding wings, 
And swift, and swifter on it flew, and bade 
The waning sun sink in the golden wave: 
A twilight clad the sea, and Night advanced, 
Her starry mantle trailing o'er the clouds, 
The purple hills through which Uiey winding fled, 
And then, she spake: "Count not thy flight by 

years, 
For ere the dawn an age of time is past ; 
When sang the stars, "An infant world is born," 
Arose the joyous shout beyond the spheres, 
" Mankind shall live, shall live and never die, 
Seven cycles mold his wondrous destiny, 
From which he speeds triumphantly anon." 
List, stranger, once the flame on Sinai shone, 
On Hermon once, and quickly will the glow 
Upon the Holy Mountain blot for aye 



l62 GE-AIDENN. 

The darkness of the hour: Then once again 
The joyous shout throughout the heavens will 

ring, 
And man arises, hurling from his limbs 
The chains corroding in the light of years. " 

As might a flame pursue the winged day, 
Outfly the stars, and leave the moon behind, 
The vessel sped its swift aerial course, 
Till Dawning, rising from her rosy couch, 
Proclaimed her advent with a joyous song; 
Delightful odors, carried by the wild 
Sweet music filled his brain, and he beheld 
The rising sun in golden splendor fade, 
The Earth flee fast away, the skies appear 
In blending tints of gold an orient pearl. 
. Ah, swift and swifter fled the winged craft, 
And neared a brighter world, round which the 

stars 
With new found luster glowing, lit the space, 
Until a canopy of countless gems 
Encircled one fair world of crystal sheen. 

Within that land of wondrous blaze and glory, 
An emerald river flowing to the sea, 
Passed amethystine isles, like dainty gems 
Clasped by the weavings of the opal sands, 
And there the boat unto its haven came. 
They disembarked : Like thoughts of fond delight 
Which wing a path where mortal clog is not, 
They strayed the maze of flowers, where the wind 
Wove twilight from the day, and sweetly bore 
Nepenthe from each bower. Sweet rhythm rose 



GE-AIDENN. 163 

As hands unseen touched vessels of the air, 
And he forgot the sylvan wilds and meads, 
The love he cherished in the mortal hour, 
To drink for aye the cup of love new found. 

She said : " When the heavenly dawn did glint 
The wavelets of the earthly sea, a mist 
Conceived, and bore the babe, Desire — a babe 
That fed on dismal void, but ever grew 
More beautiful, until, in womanhood, 
Mankind her beauty saw and man adored ; 
Incestuous child, she sought her father, Dark, 
And from her loins sprung Hate, and Artifice, 
The fairest of her progeny — the twin 
Of Discord gaunt: As man beheld the charm 
Which Artifice bestowed, and saw her hands 
Cast on the Karth the sparkling seeds of gold, 
He cried : " Behold ! The perfect day is near; " 
But, as the buds to gaudy flowers grew, 
Her sister, Discord, with a sickle keen 
Reaped well a harvest — Hate, with grimy arms, 
Gleaned on the field and garnered seeds of woe. 
Mankind, then suffering, cried : "A Demon comes 
To hold dominion in a fenseless world — 
His realms are Hell, and endless woe is there." 
Ah, timid ones, why look beyond for what 
Is thine to-day? Thy mind alone will see 
What is unsought, embossed upon the soul, 
And not the phantoms of a sullen void. 

'Tis every hour that winds are wafting Aidenii 
Along the path the soul eternal strays, 
And blossoms linger on the trees to smile 



164 GK-AIDKNN. 

Upon it — wanderer, should it instead 
Prefer to garner shadows soon to flee ? 
Though lasting bliss is where no shadows twine 
Their arms around the flowers of happiness, 
And ask the pilgrim take them with the joys 
Which linger in the arbors of the Hours, 
Still, as the footprints of preceding steps 
Appear upon the path of time, is there 
The guidance of the past, and ever there 
Is read a lesson from a brightening tome; 
Illusive shades are passed, the blossoms fair 
One only sees, and Aidenn is at hand." 

Thus straying on, in soft converse they passed 
A fleetful hour, and she, from branch and vine 
Did gather buds of varigated light, 
And then, entwined a wreath where fond content 
In gentle sweetness shone. She said : 

"O youth 
Here is satiety; one color, white, 
Absorbs the hues which charmed thy eyes to-day; 
Are lillies pure more lovely than the blooms 
Which wave upon the bowers of spring, although 
Dark shadows hover near? Satiety 
Is not the food of thought, nor sustenance 
Of man's immortal mind. Thou hast forgot 
The one who strayed the sylvan wild with thee, 
Thou wilt forget me ere another hour: 
For though, I am more lovely than thy eyes 
Beheld in mortal form, my presence dear 
As none have ever been to thee, the mind 
Would seek to grasp infinitude, and there 



GK-AIDKNN. 165 

Behold all things divinest and supreme." 

Communing thus, they reached a sea, that seemed 

Marmoreal in the distance far away, 

Anear 'twas emerald, with somber hues 

Of mirrored cliff and precipice. The youth 

Looked on the wave afar, and saw a shape 

Approaching, and he cried ; " Shall we again 

Traverse the unknown main ? " She said : 

"Again 
Thou leavest present for a future hour, 
To find a fairer joy anew: O youth, 
Though feigned delight is wafting Aidenn near, 
The past is gone, and all was with it fades ; 
New scenes appear before, and life will see 
The purer colors of arising day — 
A day, whose zenith never is, and which 
From its beginning never less will glow." 

He gazed upon the wave. The shape anear 

Came with the swiftness of a thought, and there 

A form of mind and soul, intensified 

By beauty, pureness, love, upon it sat. 

He was alike an iridescent star 

Which bursts upon the dome of night, to take 

All loveliness unto its own, aud make 

The azure dark. The wave, and all before 

Were beantiful did breathe his qualities, 

And live upon the utterance of his lips, 

The eloquence of his eyes, for there was form, 

And mind and soul were made divinest mold. 

He was alike the morning sun which wakes 

The sleeping vales to song, and gives to life 



1 66 MISCELLANEOUS. 

The radiance of another world, to leave 

No less of beauty there. The youth beheld 

The being through the pale vibrating flames, 

That wove a canopy around his couch, 

And breathed a melody upon the air, 

Which waves and hills and tinted forests heard, 

To sing an answer sweet — and as he gazed, 

The canopy dissolved, the voicing stilled, 

And what before was lovely fled away; 

Alone he saw the glory on the brow, 

The beauty of the eyes, the form that sat 

In majesty sublime. The hands outstretched, 

The lips were parted, and a word he heard, 

'Twas — "Come: " Then like the call of deathless 

love, 
Which makes the oceans, continents, a step, 
His being felt a thrill of joy, and fled 
Unto the arms which bore him o'er the sea. 



THE ANGEL'S DREAM. 

Once a spirit roamed in Aidenn — 

Heavenly Aidenn, 
Listening to spirit words 
Seeming joyous songs of birds ; 
And she gathered pleasures sweet, 
As if blossoms at her feet. 

Her companions were the bowers, 
Lit by light of endless hours, 



MISCELLANEOUS. 167 

And the anthems of the streams 

Filled her dreams ; 
Though kind spirits near would hover 
Like some lorn, forgotten lover, 
She was roaming in the solace 

Of her dreams: 

Then the anthems of the rills 
Babbling down the crimson hills, 
Lulled her lonely soul to sleep 

Calm and deep; 
Lulled her spirit unto slumper 
Which the angels will encumber, 
As they rest in dream unbroken 

Sweet and deep. 

Then she left that bright Forever, 
And she crossed the hidden river 
Which divided Earth and Aidenn — 
Which the mortals ever fear; 
As to Heaven the mortals roam 
In their dreams, she dreamed of home, 
And its memories sweet laden 
Did appear; 

Yet, she saw her silent room, 
Like some lorn, discarded tomb, 
And her mother weeping, weeping 

At the door; 
Then she touched her, and she kissed her, 
And she clasped her little sister, 
Who in child-like play was leaping 

On the floor. 



168 MISCELLANEOUS. 

But they felt no fond embrace r 

And they saw no angel face, 

For the one they loved was gone — 

Ever gone : 
Ah, they knew not she was near, 
Held by love unto her dear, 
And its memories which lied 

And came anon, 

Then she uttered : " Mother, hear me, 
I am living — thou art near me — 
I have come and will part never 

From thy side : ' ' 
And the mother's eyes upraising, 
Were in space a moment gazing — 
Gazing on an ocean ever 
Dark and wide. 

Then the spirit woke — around her 
Were the angels who had found her 
Gently sleeping — sweetly sleeping 

In the bower; 
And she knew she only dreamed, 
For the lights of Aidenn beamed 
Where the angels watch were keeping 

Every hour. 



Hunger steals for famished men, 
Wealth for those who wealth would know; 

Watchful riches steal again, 

Hunger soothed, to sleep will go: 
Gruesome thieves, O wealth and pride, 

Are ye never satisfied ? 



MISCELLANEOUS. 169 

WHY WB ARE HERB. 

An earthly home belongs to me 

A day, but only one, - 

Por though 'tis mine by right of fee, 
I soon away have gone. 

Here we should strive to do the right, 

In earnestness to live, 
And ever seek the purer light 

Which noble thoughts will give. 

In faith and charity to feel 

That we are here for good, — 
When care and sadness round us steal, 

To dwell in brotherhood, 

That golden harvest we may reap, — 

The peace of God's abode, 
And at His feet our treasures heap, — 

The burden of our load. 



IN NATURE'S REALM. 

I love the brooklet's murmuring song, 
The mountain wilds are mine; 

The pebbled way I stray along, 
And seek the cove's confine. 

The rhythm of the rustling leaves 

A fairy story tells 
'To one, who listens and receives 

With sighs the bards farewells. 



I70 MISCELLANEOUS. 

The tiny mites which haunt the air, 

Their glinting paths I see, 
And with the gloaming I will share 

Their gladness, dear to me. 

Though nature's realm is thine and mine, 
And we long there to roam, 

Bach work will seem to me divine, 
And call me nearer home. 



I WAIT FOR THKB. 

When the gloaming's purple light 

Clothes the hill and lea, 
When the shadows of the night 

Round my bower will be, 
Like a bird within its nest, 
Waiting for a true loved guest, 
I wait for thee. 

When the evening songs are still 

In the wind swayed tree, 
When the star sinks 'neath the hill, 

Then thou meetest me; 
Like a fond heart sweetly home, 
Never — nevermore to roam, 
Like a soul in Heaven's noon, 
Where all happiness is soon, 
I will be with thee. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 171 

ADOWN THE PATH OF UEE. 

The morning hour of life I stray 

Along a quiet shore, 
And think of moments passed away^ 

To come again no more. 

I listen to the robin's song, 

The softly murmuring stream, 
The humming of the insect throng, 

And life seems one sweet theme. 

I breathe the freshening forest air, 

So filled with cooling balm, 
And see the sunlight flowing fair 

Upon the waters calm. 

The joyous anthem of the lark 

May cheer the one who hears, 
And fancied voices in the dark 

Will fill his heart with fears ; 

Yet, who within the twilight's gloom, 

Amid the forest wild, 
When shadows all the paths entomb, 

Feels from his God exiled. 

How clear remembrance of the past 

Unto our spirit comes, 
When life upon the pathway cast, 

In joy or sadness roams. 

So fleetful are the happy hours, 
So early gone, they seem 



1 7 2 MISCEU,ANEOUS* 

As if among the fairest flowers 
The time has passed in dream. 

We see the sunlight flowing down 
Upon the dark green field, 

To warm with beaming rays the ground, 
That grain may be the yield. 

With hope we saw the ripening ears, 
Which with the winds did wave, 

And to our heart no wakened fears 
The distant cloudlets gave; 

But, soon will drift the gathering storm 

Above us dark and drear, 
We know each moment tokens harm ; 

The hour of ill is near. 

What solitude is more intense, 
Than that we sometimes feel, 

When in the balance of suspense 
Dark cares around us steal ; 

Yet, ceaseless night blots not the way 

Of life, sometime will be 
A morn which brightens into day, 

And then in light are we; 

Still sadness leaves a living spark, 
Which burns in memory's shrine; 

A sullen act, a coarse remark, 
May last through all of time. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 173 

Though thorns alone will pave our path, 

And round us are dead flowers, 
I think what little here one hath 

To brood away the hours ; 

Or yet, to live for ceaseless mirth 

From morn till close of day ; 
For in alone one hour the Earth 

May roll our lives away. 

The passing soul may here advance, 

Or blindly backward go; 
They who have found deliverance 

May know more than we know; 

Yet, as will near the end of day, 

And fades the light in gloom, 
Hope lights a fair eternal way — 

Love lives beyond the tomb. 



If forever, and forever, 
Timeless, boundless and eternal, 
Flows a sullen, dismal river 
Of lost souls through gates infernal, 
What a hopeless, shrieking madness 
Fills eternity with sadness — 
Grim annihilation seems 
Not so awful to our dreams. 
Righteous is our God, and He 
Wills not endless misery. 



174 MISCELLANEOUS. 

RAINDROPS. 

In the stillness, save the patter 

Of the falling rain, 
On the roof in ceaseless clatter 

Beats the liquid chain ; 
Music sweet is in the dropping, 
Dripping on and never stopping 

In the soft refrain. 

I awake, would ever listen 

To the rhythm low, 
As the raindrops gently christen 

Everything they know; 
From the purple clouds descending, 
Down the gorges they are wending 

In the sea to flow. 

Softly coming, swiftly going, 

They I often hear, 
When the winter winds are blowing 

Through the wildness sere; 
Then a restful soothing feeling 
Softly over me is stealing, 

And away from here, 

I am guided by the falling 
In a pensive tone, 

Till sweet dreams to me are calling- 
Calling me alone; 

Though I try to still awaken, 

I am swiftly, surely taken 
Where care is unknown. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 175 

Through the night in sleep reposing, 

Sweet and pure and mild, 
As with mother's arms enclosing 

Rests a little child, 
Seemingly I hear the patter 
Of the rain, a merry clatter 

In the midnight wild. 

Morning comes, the clouds are sleeping, 

Still the footsteps are; 
Madly through the gorges sweeping, 

Hastes the wave afar ; 
Yet, as fairies without number, 
Raindrops chattered in my slumber, 

Dreamland to unbar. 



THK HAVEN OF SWEET DREAMS. 

Over the sea, the deep wide sea, 
Like a boat life's fleeting miles 

My soul will glide on a placid tide, 
And its sails will be thy smiles. 

Thy sweetest song as I glide along, 

Will be the wind which bears 
A sunlit soul to its cherished goal, 

Away from a world of cares. 

The merry light of thy glances bright 

Will be my noonday themes, 
And thy kiss will say we will anchor weigh 

In the haven of sweet dreams. 



176 MISCELLANEOUS . 

In a haven near, where never a tear 
Our fond content can mar, 

Where the ebb and flow will bid us know 
All of the joys which are. 

My soul like a boat would ever float 

Over the sunlit streams, 
Over the sea, my love, with thee, 

To the haven of sweet dreams. 



MIGHT AND RIGHT. 

Barbarism tells us right 

Is in might ; 
Civilization follows on 
Barbarism's steps anon, 
And to-day we have in might 

Law and right. 

See the beast o'ercome the beast, 
On the fallen foe to feast ; 
Like it man will seek his prey, 
But to slay — tear and slay — 
Like it man will count his gain 
By the slain. 

Weaker nations fall and die, 
Triumph rings when we should sigh ; 
Peoples humbled — peoples slaves — 

Or in graves, 
Mutely plead — vainly plead 
For a world's one greatest need — 



MISCELLANEOUS. 177 

Not barbarians' ruthless cry — 
' ' Kneel, or die ! " 

Civilization, what art thou ? 
Christian, speak thy portion now; 
Are ye here in righteous state ? 
Are ye great — truly great ? 
Come, O Churchman, to us tell 
What is Hell. 

Bring the sword, O churchman, bring 
Hideous war, and sweetly sing — 
'" Peace on Earth, to men good will," — 
And then kill — simply kill, 
That an abject, trembling foe, 
Soon will know — truly know 
In our civilization fair 
Christ is there. 

Has the Christ thus brought the sword? 
Did the Christ thus teach the word ? 
He of peace and truth and right, 

Knew not might ; 
He of love has lived in vain, 
If we war for fame and gain, 
Though full many here will be., 
Praying like a Pharisee — 
Longing for a Christ to slay 

Kvery day. 



Though gold may pave the earthly path, 
Though it be strewn with flowers, 

I think but little here one hath, 
If he casts away the hours. 



I7& MISCELLANEOUS. 

UPON THE LONELY SHORE 

Upon the lonely shore 
The surges knell thy doom. 
The dream of life is o'er, 
A grotto is thy tomb; 
The sea flower is thy pillow, 
And the drift- weed is thy shroud, 
With a waving, weeping willow 
Of coral o'er thee bowed ; 

Ah me, ah me, 
Let the spirits of the sea, 
With the ceaseless moaning billow 
Chant a dirge for thee. 

I think of happy hours, 
Of hopes, too quickly vain, 
And am longing for thy bowers 
Beneath the sullen main ; 
Though ne'er thy sleep is broken 
Where the sea stars softly gleam, 
Are tender words unspoken 
Now wafted o'er the stream ; 

Ah me, ah me, 
Let the surges of the sea, 
As a last, yet kindly token, 
Raise a mound to thee. 

The twilight o'er my way 
Is falling, and the gloom 
Of darkness hides the ray 
Which love did once illume; 



MISCELLANEOUS. 179 

A love which faded never, 
Till came the cruel wave, 
To keep her from me ever; 
To mold for her a grave. 

Ah me, ah me, 
Would the billows of the sea 
No more our pathways sever, 
That I could be with thee. 



SONG OP THE NBREADS, 

Soft is the glow, the sunset is printing 

Its beauty in the skies; 
We come ! we come ! Our path is the tinting 

Before the starlight dies ; 

Our song is wafted o'er 
The rocks upon the shore, 
The hills our music low 
Reecho as we go;; 
And joyous all are we 
Within the drifting spray, 
As sparklings by us flee, 
And surgings round us play. 

Fair is the wind, the vessel is dipping, 
The sea stars brightly gleam; 

Away, away, theNereads are tripping, 
Over the sunlit stream. 

The voicings come and go 
I/ike winds which softly blow, 



l8o MISCELLANEOUS. 

As we carol to the foam 
Above our coral home; 
We are the sailors' guide, 
Our watch is in the night, 
And under the prow we hide 
When speed the wings of white. 

Over the sea the vessel is sailing, 
The mariners hear the song, — 

Heigh O : heigh O ! The Nereads hailing, 
Pass the side along. 

From the deep, the silent deep, 
To the sailor lads asleep 
We come, and merry themes 
We whisper in their dreams ; 
And in the lightsome wake 
We dance on the billow's crest, 
Though when the dawn will break 
We haste away to rest. 

Dear are the paths through the forests of coral, 

The wavy ocean groves, 
And fair, ah fair, are the many hued floral, 

The grottoes and the coves; 

We stray the sea- weed plains, 
Where the twilight never wanes, 
And the hills and valleys roam 
Beneath the emerald dome; 
And if we chance to be 
Where the rocks or reefs arise, 



MISCELLANEOUS. l8l 

We chant a merry glee 
The roamer to surprise. 

On the lone point the beacon light flashing 

The Nereads see with fear, 
We go ! we go ! Amid the far dashing 

Arises the anthem clear — 

" The stars to us are fair, 
Naught can with them compare; 
The light we shun shall fail 
Before the speeding gale; 
O bring the leaden cloud ! 
O wake the angry wind ! 
The mists the seas o'ershroud, 
We will the grotto find." 

Fiercely the waves are raging, are beating, 

The seamen are in alarm; 
Heigh O! heigh O! The moments are fleeting, 

They drift before the storm ; 

The ledges bleak arise, 
The spray above them flies, 
And comes the sullen roar 
Of breakers on the shore; 
The chan tings loud resound, 
" This is the sailor's doom, 
Alas, alas, the mound 
Of sea-weed is his tomb." 

In a lone nook where the deep sounding billow 
Will never wake a knell, 



1 82 MISCELLANEOUS. 

Asleep, asleep on a sea-blossom pillow? 
In a couch of pearl and shell, 

The sailor lad will rest, 
There tenderly caressed 
By those who in his dream 
He oft had fondly seen ; 
And through his grotto hall 
Are footsteps to and fro, 
The Nereads' plaintive call, 
And a requiem sweet and low. 



GLADNESS CAST. 



Upon the way the tinkling rill 
Among the rarest flowers may flow, 
To babble by the rocks, and fill 
Its world with anthems sweet and low. 

It cheers the path its lot to glide, 
And strows a joy on mead and lea, 
Although before the eventide 
Its portion is the briny sea. 

And thus, we may a gladness cast 
Upon the paths our feet shall tread, 
A joy which lives when we have passed 
To seas unknown so near ahead. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 183 

WHEN THE CLOUDS ARE RIFTED. 

When the clouds are rifted 
We see a fairer dawn, 
When the gloom is lifted 
Are hours of sorrow gone, 
And lighter, and brighter 
Our pathway will appear, 
Where joyous songs have drifted, 
And pleasant words are near. 

But the paths are changing ever 
As we stray the earthly vale, 
A chasm soon will sever 
Loved ones, and twilight pale 
Comes o'er us, before us 
We see the darkness near ; 
O brave is he who never 
Looks forward with a fear. 

When the thread is broken 
The soul away doth go, 
Yet, is left a treasured token, 
The love we all must know; 
Though surely more purely 
The spirit far doth flee, 
The tender words are spoken — 
How lonely now are we. 

The portal dark is seeming 
To us of mortal night ; 
But fairest tints are streaming, 
And anthems of delight 



1 84 MISCELLANEOUS. 

Are there ever, and never 
Our loved one would return ; 
Ne'er vain that light is beaming, 
Though vain we ceaseless yearn. 



I FEEL FOR THEE. 

Is our every deed and act 

Ours in fact ? 
Is not some inherent force, 
Like a river's onward course, 
Urging us upon the tide 

Where we glide ? 

We are led— ever led 
By a passion in us bred ; 
Be it billow, or a shoal, 
It will bear us to a goal — 
Wreck or haven, ere we sweep 
To the deep, 

We are drifting on the stream 

Of our dream, 
Urging us to ill or weal, 
But that stream is ever real — 
Rolling from its parent source 

Down the course. 

Turn not from the fool away, 
Turn not from the child estray, 
Though is doomed — although is born 



MISCELLANEOUS. 185 

One for scorn ; 
Ivook upon the parent's sin, 
Look and pity — then within 
Thy own heart let answer be— 

I feel for thee. 



LINKS. 

Why do the skies so softly blush 

When the sun will kiss the sea? 
Why do thy cheeks so sweetly flush 

When I have a kiss for thee ? 
If never skies a flush would know, 
And ne'er thy cheeks would feel the glow, 
Then not so fair the waves would be, 
And not so sweet thy lips to me. 



Not a word to Earth is given 
Sweet as that one word of Heaven ; 
It contains all life and love, 
Hope below, and joy above: 
That one word of Heaven alone 
Tells of every blessing known. 



The cosy dwelling in the lane, 
Where rocks the cradle to and fro, 
Where fondly is the wife's refrain, 
And baby cooings soft and low, 
With humble joys and earnest toil, 
And plenty which the work has crowned, 
Knows peace from which may vice recoil, 
Yet, ne'er on penury has frowned. 



1 86 MISCELLANEOUS. 

THE BLACKBIRD AND THE OWL. 

A fair chameleon in a tree 

Awoke and saw a honey bee, 

But changed its robe to match the skies, 

And breathed a breath and closed its eyes. 

Within that tree a downy owl 

Looked down with neither smile nor scowL 

But also there a blackbird flew, 

And made of this a much ado. 

It said : "O bee, thy toil is vain, 

For others will thy honey gain ; 

Chameleons, no fairer, sleep, 

Or feed on light, whilst thou must reap; " 

But roused the owl, and said : "Away 
O vagrant bird, thy chatter stay; 
Who toils will find a sweet content, 
The sloth is his own detriment." 

Then flew the blackbird from the tree, 
And said the downy owl : "Ah me, 
Although chameleons many are, 
Too many blackbirds live by far." 



Laud not those who orphans crush. 
That they unto riches rush ; 
Curse not who by hunger bound, 
Takes the morsel he has found ; 
Pity both— in pity speak — 
Why so weak ? 



MISCELLANEOUS. 187 

SPIRIT LAKE. 

Within thy mountain nest, 
In slumber broken never, 
What dream is thine, O lake. 
Which can not ripple make ? 
The evening's song of rest, 
And morning's anthem, ever 
May on thy bosom flow, 
And know what I would know; 
Yet vain — in vain endeavor 
Unto thy banks I go. 

The brooklet's rippling voice 
Is coming from the ledges, 
Beneath the alders' green 
The waters flow serene; 
The beams of day rejoice 
Upon the icy wedges, 
The star gleams from the sky 
Look on thy mountain high, 
While o'er the mossy hedges 
Will sound the eagle's cry; 

With sunset's dying light 
The speckled trout are leaping, 
The birds sing in the grove, 
The deer will seek the cove; 
My camp fire dims at night 
The stars above me peeping, 
Yet, ne'er thy chanting swells 
The fairy story tells 



1 88 MISCELLANEOUS. 

Of the spirit, that is sleeping 
Within thy sylvan dells. 



YOUTH'S HAPPY HOUR IS PAST. 

Youth's happy hour is past, 

The glow the dawning cast 
Is hidden by the clouds within the sky; 
They deepen — unto me approaches fast 
The day I die: 

Yet, should I wish again 

To see that dawning stain 
My pathway with its joyous rosy hue? 
Ah nay! How sweet if noonday would regain 
Its sunny blue: 

For springtime is to all 

A dream, and quickly fall 
Beside us strays and whispers — work perform : 
One moment only will we hear the call, 
In calm or storm. 

Though often evil seems 
The hour our childhood dreams 
Are faded, and the clouds will lower above, 
Let none forget, the fairest of all themes 
Are work and love. 

All those who faithful are 
Will see a beaming star 



MISCELLANEOUS. 189 

Relight the footprints of our earnest way; 
For rifted are the clouds, and glows afar 
Its peerless ray. 



THE WIND'S DARK STKKD. 

A blithesome cricket in a thicket 
With gladness winged its evening song, 
And o'er the mead the wind's dark steed 
Did bear the ringing notes along, 
Until, beside a dreamy lake 
It paused, the quiet there to wake. 

Upon the sheen the shade between, 
Which glimmered on the water still, 
A guileless frog sat on a log 
And listened to the cricket's trill ; 
And then it did its voice attune, 
There to complain unto the moon. 

The resting breeze among the trees 
Listened to the frog's lament, 
What was the need of its dark steed 
To carry discord where it went? 
The gentle wind which held the rein 
Would homeward guide the notes again. 

The silent spring did quickly bring 
Dismay unto the cricket's lair, 
For it had borne the frog's sad mourn 
Where all before appeared so fair; 



1 9° MISCELLANEOUS. 

The timid wind did say: — Ah me, 
Where will I with my burden flee ? 

The leaves at rest heard the request, 
They sighed, — O wind, be calm, be still ; 
The frog will croak, the cricket stroke 
Her wings, and raise an answer shrill — 
Be thou no messenger, and they 
Will each be happy in their way. 



WHE)N THOU ART MINE. 

Let me think that Heaven is mine, 

When I am thine; 
That the angels' hours will be 
Forming days for you and me — 
Days where only fades the light 

In death's dark night. 

Let me think that Heaven is thine , 

When thou art mine; 
That the summer of our life 
Never wanes to winter's strife — 
That one long bright sunny day 

Is ours for aye. 

Love will be our sunlight fair 

When I am thine, 
Love will soothe our every care 

When thou art mine; 
Like a sweet remembered dream 



MISCELLANEOUS. 191 

Will the past unto us seem — 
Like a fond hour coming soon, 
Is life's noon. 

Love will light our twilight's grey, 

If thou art mine, 
Every cloud will blow away 

If I am thine; 
Then alike a treasured theme 
Will be life's soon ended dream, 
We will drift an ebbing tide — 
Gently drifting side by side — 
Until death takes thee or thine — 

If thou art mine. 



THE SKA SHELL. 



I found a tiny shell upon the shore, 
Of wondrous dainty folds of every hue; 
Can art of man which we so oft adore, 
His rarest work its perfect tints imbue ? 

The billow's roar, the wavelet's merry glee, 
And surge's distant rage within I hear; 
The cliffs, the crags, a sunset on the sea, 
Its changeful beauty brings so oft anear; 

Long has it lain upon the shifting strand, 
Exposed alike to sunshine and to storm ; 
Now by the gentlest winds of summer fanned. 
Soon listening to the tempest's stern alarm. 



I9 2 MISCELLANEOUS. 

Was it a home where happy life did live, 
A sunny castle with a moat and walls? 
Its lone possessor fond content to give 
Within the strangeness of the grotto halls. 

The being has forever passed away, 
A fleeting moment did a work fulfill ; 
A castle, here to moulder and decay, 
Alone remains to tell the wondrous skill. 

How like is man ! Ambition leads him on 
To build a palace grand with marble aisles ; 
Its gildings sparkle with the rosy dawn, 
But sunset's beauty rarely on him smiles. 

Within the deep one labored hard as taught, 
Fulfilled the work its portion to perform ; 
In selfishness the other only thought 
Of worldly wealth which did a life encharm. 

The gorgeous palace moulders to decay, 
The pearly shell is buried in the sand ; 
And soon the mortal life is passed away — 
The soul alone can storms of time withstand. 



Blest is the place where work and love 
The simple needs of life provide; 
As flees the night from light above, 
All dark has fled where they abide. 
By work and love is Earth adorned, 
Ivife made complete, and Heaven formed, 



MISCEIXANTSOUS. 193 

LIKE A PEBBLE IN A WAVE. 

Like a pebble in a wave 
Passes man into the grave, 
Not a ripple — not a murmur 

Notes the deed ; 
Like the ocean's onward flood 
Is the rush of things of blood — 
Is the surge of life which never 

Slacks its speed. 

Where the haughty princes fell, 
Their renown the stories tell 
-For a moment, and the great man 

Lives a day; 
Yet, like pebbles we are all, 
And the great and little fall — 
Buried in the wave of life's 

Resistless sway. 

Reckon not the dead — they are 

But the sands upon a bar, 

And the moaning waves are memories 

Which we keep ; 
In the ocean of the past 
We are cast — swiftly cast, 
And the world rolls on forever, 

Though w T e sleep. 



THE LEAFLET FROM THE CLUSTER- 

The leaflet from the cluster 
Unto the, ground will fall, 



194 MISCELLANEOUS, 

The fading sunset's luster 
Foretells a night for all ; 

And clouds that sweep above us 
Are fleeing from the storm ; 

Yet, we have those who love us, 
And love will lull alarm. 

As on a lofty tower 
A beacon light will shine, 
And though the clouds may lower 

Upon the sea of time, 
It guides us, it leads us 

Upon a chosen way; 
' Tis heavenly love which feeds us, 
And lights the night and day. 



FAIR IS THE) MORN. 

Slowly morning rifts the night 
In the pathway of the soul, 
Yet, the cherished rising light 
Shows on Earth man's noblest goal : 
Kindling flames in mortal fetter, 
Truly Karth to us is better 
Than the world to those before us ; 
Fairer are the heavens o'er us. 

Seeing, but through mists and gloom, 
Man is painting worlds sublime; 
Is unto the waiting tomb 
All the height he has to climb ? 



MISCELLANEOUS. 195 

Ne'er a mountain is appearing, 
But before are hillocks nearing ; 
And each hill is surely hiding 
Canyons in our path abiding. 

Ebbing tides will leave the shore, 
But the flood will hide it soon ; 
As the twilight hour is o'er 
Night and morning come, then noon : 
Ceaseless change this world is knowing, 
But the morn of life now glowing, 
Brightens, till the noon will be 
Witness of man's destiny. 

Fair is the morn, the light is real, 

Let humanity be guide; 

Man must mold his ill or weal, 

God will only near abide; 

Let us know that we are given 

Else to do than dream of Heaven; 

Morn is here — humanity 

Lights Earth's glorious day to be. 



THE WAVE OF LIFE^ 

The wave rolls up the slant, 

And wears away 
The rock of adamant ; 
No sluggish tide will beat 
Within that rock's retreat, 
But ceaseless surging every day 

Wears it away. 



196 MISCEXIvANBOUS. 

Thus life rolls up the steep — 
Life without rest or sleep 
Advances, cleaves anew a course 

Ere slacks its force; 
Then once again will speed 
Life'e wave the new found lead. 
Until some bulwark on its shore 

Is there no more. 

Alone by this grim war 
Is worn away each bar 
Of fallacy, and truth will rise 
Like stars within our skies — 
Stars which will purer glow 
Where life's mad waves shall flow, 
Until upon the placid tide 
Of peace we glide. 

Yet, even then will roll 

The currents of the soul — 

Bright currents sparkling in the rays 

Of happier days, 
For life will bear no pause — 
Progression molds its laws, 
And we, but drops commingled, flow 

Where we shall go. 



THE STORM. 



Day is at rest, but the deep lurid fire 
Floats in the clouds, flows o'er the sea, 
Lights the gray cliff and the tall glistening spire; 
Purples the moorland and lea. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 197 

Slowly the twilight is falling, the vesper 
From the lone covert is musing repose; 
Swift sable Night to the realms of fair Hesper 
Moves on her starry bright foes. 

Robed in cloud, with her ebon locks trailing. 
Still is her way, stately her mein, 
Flees the faint glow; then, the hilltops o'erveiling, 
Reigns in her might the dark queen. 

Hark ! comes a sound from the home of still 

slumber, 
Like a low wail — like a deep moan ; 
Slowly 'tis rising, and weird is the number 
Voiced round the black sceptered throne. 

See the bleak clouds o'er the crags swiftly driven, 
Hear the low sigh as the stately tree bends ; 
Gone are the gleams from the once azure heaven — 
Lost in the gloom which descends ; 

Then, like a cannonade rumbles the thunder, 
Flashes the lightning and rends the black sky; 
Down fall the trees, by the stroke cleft asunder — 
Monarchs the gale might defy. 

Where is the rose sweetly blooming at morning, 
Kissed by the dew and the dawning's soft ray ? 
Little it knew, as it waved in the gloaming 
Soon it is crushed on the way. 

Like to the rush of a torrent swelled river, 
Beats the stern blast — falls the dense rain : 



I98 MISCELLANEOUS. 

How the lone cottage does tremble and quiver, 
Feeling the tempest's mad strain. 

Fierce are the lashings upon the wild ocean, 
Whirling the spray from the waves rolling deep, 
While the white breakers with frenzied commotion 
Over the drifting sands sweep. 

There the lone vessel is beating deep laden, 
Swept by the seas which against the rocks roar ; 
Sleep can not come to the eyes of the maiden 
Watching its light from the shore, 

Till the fair stars through the mist rifts are 

gleaming — 
Night with her train of the cloud and the storm 
Flees from the dawning — the signals are beaming, 
Lulling the angry alarm. 



FEW WILL AND DO. 

Every one will know an hour — 

One sweet hour, 
When a hope will be fulfilled, 
Working, doing what he willed— 
One fair hope for you and me 

Real will be. 

Every one shall know an hour — 

One sad hour, 
When some fond desire is lost — 



MISCELLANEOUS. 199 

Every one shall know the cost 
When he finds his cherished theme 
Is a dream. 

If the hope of life is vain, 
Be it love, or worldly gain, 
Be it fame on land or sea, 
Think not few have lost with thee; 
Few indeed — ah, very few 
Will and do. 

Yet, some little hopes are ours, 
Which will blossom like sweet flowers, 
Making bright a work begun, 
Cheering, though it is undone — 
Little hopes make bright the way 
We shall stray. 

He who strives for much will find 

Many blessings are behind, 

He who courts the greatest prize , 

Toils and dies ; 
Cast all earthly joy away, 
Think thy mortal life a day, 
Toil that day, if thou wouldst know 

Fame's bright glow — 
Fame, which may an hour illume 
thy tomb. 



The shifting sands will come and go, 
And sink beneath the lines of spray, 
And I a moment roam and know 
Like them my joys will hide away. 



200 MISCELLANEOUS. 

GENTLE SLEEP. 

gentle sleep, I wait for thee 

Without a fear ; 
Why should one seek away to flee;. 
When thou to him art near ? 

1 know not—only this I know, 
A touch, a chill I feel, and go 

Away from here. 

Can ill await me? nay: a child, 

A babe am I, 
On sunny slopes or deserts wild 
To stray an hour and die; 
Not ill is mine — if I awake 
From sleep, a fairer light will break 

Across the sky. 

A father ne'er his child would leave 

In endless woe, 
Nor death a sullen bond could weave 
Where torments ever flow; 
My light will speed its onward way, 
To dim, or brighten as it may, 
And else to know. 

In other form, in other guise 

My lot may be, 
The past forgot, perhaps, surprise 

Awaits for me ; 
And this my hope — when life is o'er,. 
I find a better, fairer shore 

Across the sea. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 201 

ODE TO THE CLACKAMAS RIVER. 

Where the Cascades meet the heavens, 
And the fountains of the mountains 
Sing the grandeur of their birthplace 
As they babble down the steeps, 
Crags and chasms, coves and bowers, 
Forests, vines and rarest flowers, 
Form the pathway where a river 
Downward sweeps. 

Treacherous and swirling ever, 
Through the gorges madly forges 
Clackamas, that crystal river, 
Winding where its pathway guides ; 
There it chants to all the story 
Of the wild and rugged glory, 
Pictured on the massive ramparts 
On its sides. 

Ivike the time the light caneam 
Rode its waters, and the daughters 
Of the Red men sang their love songs 
To its rushing rhythmic strain, 
Gloaming finds the camp smoke curling 
Slowly upward, and the whirling 
Of its eddies is the sportman's 
Sweet refrain. 

Wild and lonely, bleak, yet, grandly 
It is flowing, change unknowing, 
Paradise of recreation, 
Haven of the camper's heart ; 
In its cave the bear is sleeping, 



202 MISCELLANEOUS. 

Ever there the trout are leaping, 
And the salmon on the walls of 
Water dart. 

Standing- where its sources mingle, 
Silver seeming, where the teeming 
Forests cover cliffs and grottoes — 
Where the Indian warrior stood, 
I have gazed — would gaze forever 
On the swift, meandering river, 
And upon the near white chieftain, 
Peerless Hood. 

Where the Cascades meet the heavens, 
Race the waters where the daughters 
Of the streamlets chant a gladness 
To the Echoes of the grove; 
One sweet song is ever ringing, 
1 Tis the sylvan wildness singing 
Unto those who by the river 
Rest and rove. 



SUNSET IN ALASKA. 

A dream of Aidenn's gates was mine 
Where nature painted scenes divine, 
And stroking mountains, seas and skies, 
She made the walls of Heaven rise. 
Alaska's sun rests on the deep, 
The golden lightnings from it leap, 
Upon the waves a kiss to print, 



MISCELLANEOUS. 203 

And snow flecked ledges crimson tint ; 
Where a blue glacier clove its bed 
A billowy splendor downward sped, 
Bright as the sun's intensest ray; 
It seemed the gate of endless day. 
Vermilion was each height, till dim,, 
The sun waned on the ocean's brim, 
Then, in the glow of burnished gold 
Stood out each mountain outline bold, 
Arched by a blended rainbow sheen 
O'er the pale skies' ethereal green — 
Skies where between the orange bars 
Came the first glimmer of the stars. 
Down sank the sun — the heights sublime 
The leaden shades twilight climb, 
And as the golden splendor fades, 
The icy cold of night invades. 



WEEP NOT FOR ME. 

Weep not for me— 
Would the robin mourn for me 

When dawning's merry tints the skies illume? 

Or the osprey gliding o'er a sunny sea, 
Wail by the sailor's tomb? 
Not more I ask of thee, 
Let joyous be thy song, 
For sorrows soon may throng 
Thy path, when roses cease to bloom 
And smile on thee. 

My soul has wandered far 
In endless ages past ; 



204 MISCELLANEOUS. 

Perhaps, a fairer star 
Has seen my shallop cast 
Upon a shore more gracious than is this ; 

Be as it may, 
Let naught thy gladness mar, 

Nor make remiss 
The beauty of thy way. 

Weep not for me — 
Would the leaflet sigh for me, 

When winds may pause and softly it caress ? 

Or could the streamlet less of gladness see, 
If my ills upon it press? 
I do not wish from thee 
Else than they freely give; 
A happy life they live, 

And if my hour is sadness, they express 
My will to thee; 

For I, a wafted spark 
Upon a wind of night, 
Have rested, to embark 
Again in rapid flight, 
And soon is lost the glimmer of my way; 

Whatever mine, 
May not an hour of dark 

My journey stay, 
Nor sorrowful make thine. 



Man lives to dance a masquerade 
Unto life's never ending tune; 
Each seeks applause; yet, praise is made 
Full often to the loud buffoon. 



ZAMNA. 205 



ZAMNA, OR 

THE BATTLE OF THE CLOUD SNAKES. 

The orient rays o'erglint the distant height, 
And fill the plain with hues of fairer light, 
The arch, and dome, and stately temple spire, 
Burn once again with day's refulgent fire; 
Now rise the strains of shell and bugle shrill, 
And echoing chants resound on dale and hill, 
As solemnly a weird procession moves 
Its winding way among the tinted groves. 

Near follow on the humble captive train, 
With ruddy gore the temple steps to stain, 
Though one, alone well bound with tinkling 

bands 
Of silver wrought did boldly tread the sands ; 
A monarch he, Tascalla's prince shall fall, 
And dye with red the slanting alter's wall. 
He deigns no answer to the murmured praise, 
Nor gives a glance unto admiring gaze, 
But steps into the barge, is wafted o'er 
The slimy waters to the island shore. 

The rustling branches of the waving trees, 
The songs of birds, the softly chanting breeze, 
The splash of snake, and creak of oar and mast, 



206 ZAMNA. 

Were stilled within the pipes' ascending blast ; 
Then rose the triumph of the maid and priest, 
For the knife gave the saceradotal feast. 

Soon came the words : " Bring forth Tascalla's 

lord, 
Let gods divine receive the due reward : " 
The youthful priest, by passing scenes inspired, 
And warrior with ambition's turmoil fired, 
Enclosed the captive, but a word, a glance, 
He deigned to give did stay the quick advance. 
He said : c< Think ye, that I am as the slave 
Who cringing treads unto the felon's grave? 
Think ye, I fear the sting of priestly knife, 
Thy gods' command, that asks a captive's life? 
I am not warmed by helpless victim's cries, 
Nor cooled to trembling should the struggle rise; 
Bind me unto the gladiatorial block, 
Then, dare who will my prowess there to mock." 
The monarch cried : "Away ! upon the height 
Let burnished shield subdue the sunray's light : 
May flashing blade the fairest armor cleave; 
Who dies for glory, lives, no more to grieve." 

Soon Zamna, bound unto the slimy stone, 
Swung the great club and battled there alone; 
Bight victims bowed before the southern peer, 
Each nevermore to wield an earthly spear ; 
Within the dwelling of the sun were they, 
To guide the light its swift aerial way. 
Then spake the monarch : " Must my warriors die, 
And lives the foe our prowess to defy ? 
Each flower to fall as if by sickle keen, 



ZAMNA. 207 

Must azure bow unto the fold of green ? ' ' 
In deep dismay, all wait the inner bar, 
Though bold were they upon the border war, 
But, soon a murmur rises on the air, 
A gallant chief now seeks the deadly lair; 
The glistening brand unto the heavens shone, 
As low he bowed before the jeweled throne; 
The weapon tried, his armor closely scanned, 
Serenely he awaits his lord's command. 

The captive roused, as hummed his foeman's 

praise, 
The casual glance was changed to earnest gaze, 
And flushed his cheek, and paled, but not with 

fear, 
Though he at last beheld a warrior peer. 
Then thrust and blow upon the buckler rang, 
And happy airs the club as often sang, 
While round and round they wheeled, and face 

to face, 
Determination coped with artful grace ; 
There oft the thrust did give the stinging pain 
Unto the captive hampered by the chain, 
Till crashed the club upon the ringing shield, 
And woke the cry, the sacred arm must yield ; 
Ah, fortune kind the valiant blow did guide, 
The warrior fell, and ebbed the northern tide. 

Then rose a moan of terror, rage and woe, 
From priest and brave as fell their hero low; 
Swift flashed a spear, propelled by foeman's arm, 
And lulled its force within the victor's form. 



208 ZAMNA. 

The broken faith the gods in anger see, 
Awakes the flash, and speaks the dark decree, 
For, rolled the thunder, and each one, dismayed, 
Fled from the height unto the darkening glade; 
Fled from the combat, o'er the reed lined lake, 
And feasting, gods, and temples did forsake. 

Yet, Zamna woke, and felt the morning air 
O'erglide the plain to dry the slimy stair, 
And saw the warrior where he stricken fell, 
While o'er the stately height did silence dwell ; 
As Zamna mused upon the sanguine hour, 
Beside him stood a form, who said : " The flower 
Of Aztecs' foes has striven long and right, 
He lives, again in native land to fight; 
I come to lead thee, to thy guardian tell 
What brought thee here, and where thy lot to 
dwell?" 

The chieftain answered : u 'Twas my fate to rove 

The mountains bleak— oft in the wars I strove, 

When came the northern horde for pillage dire, 

To waste our hills and fields with vengeful ire : 

My happiest hour was when arose the cry 

As stricken foemen helpless fell to die ; 

Yet, hours of quietude forbade restraint, 

We must away fair regions to attaint, 

And choosing few, I crossed the sunny ford, 

Then heedless ravage gave the sanguine word. 

The towns destroyed, the happy dales in waste, 

And treasure ours, return we must in haste, 

For angry hosts swept on our swift retreat, 

Till roused the heart, we stayed the tide to meet." 



ZAMNA. 209 

"On came the myriad locusts up the height, 
And countless darts o'erclouded all with night ; 
But circled we, each buckler raised amain, 
Against the fortress every blow was vain. 
Unscathed, my warriors cried : " But women's 

arms 
Wield the light bows which twang the fruitless 

storms ; 
Why not in closer combat bid them die, 
Or by the lash unto their hills to fly ? " 

il Was mine to say we must the height abide, 

Beneath the shields our valiant blades to hide ? 

Down the steep hillock, like a torrent's flow, 

We boldly ran to smite the taunting foe; 

As stubble falls before a sickle keen, 

We mowed a path, and reaping, turned to glean; 

Then back again, and back returning we 

Saw myriads fall, and hosts before us flee, 

But one by one my warriors lay supine, 

And we were pressed against a cliff's confine." 

"Like frenzied wasps they thick about us fly, 

And two arrive where one did flee, or die, 

Till vain our blows, and vain the shield's restraint 

But heroes five subdue the thirstful faint. 

My braves, I cried : ' Tis ours to win the day, 

My guidance follow o'er the reeking way; 

With back to back, and whirring blades in air, 

The sacred five did quit the slimy lair, 

And ceaselessly I clove a path serene, 

To fall, and rise — and fall their ranks between ; 



21 ZAMNA. 

Then darkness came, and closed sleep's restful 

wave 
About me, till I woke, and was a slave. 
My doom was said — a death upon the stone — 
Ah, here instead my foemen did atone. 

The specter answered : " Zamna, noble, brave, 
Thou art a Cloud Snake on th' ethereal wave; 
Thy comrades wait thee in immortal fray, 
When speed the ardent cohorts of the Day." 
He touched the wounded side, he touched the 

chain, 
Was healed the warrior and the bands were twain, 
And they together passed the reeking stair, 
To wait the shallop by the lakeside fair. 
He spake again : "I leave thee, for thy guide 
Will safely take thee o'er the placid tide, 
Unto the mount, the Cloud Snakes' bright abode, 
Bre may the mortal wend his homeward road." 

The distant shore appeared in dimness low 

Beneath the silent morn's arising glow, 

While here and there, in groups of dainty white, 

Like tiny islands on a sea of light, 

Fair floating plants upon the surface rose, 

Where venomed reptiles found a snug repose; 

Then on the lake a boat its path did twine 

Among the channels of the floating vine, 

To reach the strand unto a dipping strain, 

And bear the warrior on the wave again. 

W T hen glowed the scarlet folds within the west, 
The boat along a river's boundary pressed, 



ZAMNA. 211 

Until appeared a mountain hoary, fair, 
The silent ramparts of the Cloud Snakes' lair ; 
The shallop stayed its course, and he alone 
Did disembark to wend a path unknown, 
When at his side a stranger did appear, 
And utter : " Warrior, glorious strife is near ; 
Before the lamp of night will light the skies, 
Be unto thee this mantle thy disguise, 
That thou, unseen may safely reach the goal ; 
Yet, heedful be when sounds the drum's deep 
roll." 

Unto his side a jeweled blade was bound, 
And from his shoulders fell the robe around ; 
Then up the height alone the warrior hastes 
Unto the strangeness of the silvery wastes. 
The queen of night, in lightsome robes arrayed, 
Soft lit the mount which shadowed o'er the glade, 
When rose a moan, as of a soul in woe, 
Then groan on groan from every cleft did flow. 
Aside he glanced, the mangled limbs did ken, 
The headless trunks, the writhing forms of men, 
And cried : " How dear the thought of mortal 

fray, 
When warriors fall like leaves upon the way." 

Down the wild steep a form in armor glides 
In silence weird, and at his side abides, 
And speaks : " I come the mortal chief to lead 
Where pleasures reign, and life is life indeed ; 
The hour is thine, for he who rules the air, 
Commands thy presence at the Cloud Snakes' 
lair." 



212 ZAMNA. 

As Zamna brave the stately form beholds 
In somber armor wrought in wondrous folds, 
And hears the ring, as falls the heavy spear, 
Aloft his arm the blade does grimly rear, 
But, as the voice proclaims a friendship, he 
Relaxes, and persuades his passion flee; 
Then swiftly on, along the Cloud Snakes' walls; 
They pass towards the victors' festal halls. 

Through mazy folds of softest silver} 7 woof, 
That gently draping fell, the azure roof 
Appeared a sea sustained by glistening spires, 
Where blended hues of many colored fires, 
While twinklings gleamed from arch and trelissed 

ways, 
Commingled with the stars' refulgent rays. 
The guardian said : li Unseen thou here wilt be 
Within ttty mantle safe to follow me; 
But, think not thou, although of peerless might, 
Canst with them strive who bide the dawning's 

light." 

Now ope the doors, they meet the festal throng, 

Down the bright entrance Zamna steps along ; 

On every side, at random placed, appears 

The glowing armor of immortal peers, 

While in confusion seem the warriors true, 

Enrobed in splendor of a lesser hue; 

Like in the realms above, where countless stars 

May faintly shine, yet, none the brilliance mars, 

Disordered to the mortal glance are they, 

But each proclaims its place with welcome ray. 

Loud ring the shouts, and merry is the laugh, 



ZAMNA. 213 

They dews from sweet immortal blossoms quaff, 
And all are great, and none are known as least 
In the fair war, or at the victors' feast. 

Down the wide aisle they strayed : The guardian 

said, 
1 ' There is the one the southern warriors led 
In years agone, when on Tascalla's plain 
On crimsoned sands the armies strove amain; 
Upon that field before his mighty lance, 
The hosts, dismayed, forgot their fierce advance; 
His skillful blow their youthful thrusts beguiled, 
Until in circling heaps the slain were piled ; 
But mortal arm must tire, adown he fell, 
As rang the shouts, and whirled his last farewell : 
An ardent brave first sought the wounded foe, 
But met the lance, and failed to strike the blow, 
Yet, frenzied all, like wolves o'er helpless prey, 
With vengeful darts the wounded chief did slay. 
Teoya came, with gentle arm she bore 
The spirit warrior from the field of gore, 
And here, as revel others, he apart, 
Plans how he may the foemen cohorts thwart." 

As Zamna's gaze around the hall was turned, 
To mortal view were arts unknown discerned ; 
The towering walls seemed clouds of mazy light, 
Where orange, blue, and folds of silver bright 
Extended high and far on every side, 
Like a fair sunset on an ocean wide; 
The drapings, feathery in their lightness wove, 
Appeared in frozen waves of spray to rove 
Among the arches — and the floor, a sea, 



214 ZAMNA. 

Seemed robed with surf in playful mystery, 
Each crest a gem which softly ever gave 
Its tinted light unto an emerald wave. 

Amid the flashing of the weapons keen, 

The burnished armor, and the buckler's sheen, 

And blending colors of the lofty spires, 

Bold Zamna passes, and to shade retires, 

Though still to hear the echoes of the tales 

Of glorious wars among the starry veils. 

The guardian said: " Behold the mangled forms 

Which silent lie amid the night's alarms ; 

O'er these we pass unto the furthest height, 

And then thy soul will see immortal light. ' ' 

They pick their way with footsteps careful, slow, 
And reach the peak ere comes the dawning's glow, 
Alone, as sank the yellow moon to sleep, 
On that aerial height their watch to keep. 
Again he speaks : "I am of southern blood, 
In years agone on Toltec's lands I stood, 
When came the vengeful allies o'er the plain, 
The fertile dales with desolation stain ; 
I cried : " My comrades, may the northern horde 
Now unmolested cross the boundary ford ? 
Think of the home, the fireside's cheished glow, 
For freedom strike — Ay, smite the taunting foe." 

" My warriors gave a shout, and down the slope 
We boldly sped, in mortal strife to cope; 
Then flew the darts as sweeps a whirling cloud, 
The meadow darkened 'neath the hissing shroud, 



ZAMNA. 215 

And thunders rolled, for smote the spear on spear, 

As we passed on, unknown to mortal fear; 

But, like a summer wind that sears the bloom, 

And in its pathway leaves the ban of doom, 

My chosen flowers felt a crushing breath 

Which wrapped them in the silent folds of death ; 

As locusts were the foes, and we, to slay, 

O'er corpses climbed — Ah, dear the sanguine fray ! 

But one by one my faithful comrades fall, 

And I, alone, stand firm against them all ; 

"Come on, ye slaves ! " I cried : " Bid me to die ! 

Where is the one who dares my arm defy?" 

A cloud of thirsty lances cut the air, 

My shield arose, the wounded form to spare 

Until they closer were, but, ever vain, 

For I fell bleeding, fainting on the plain. 

My eyelids closed in sleep — no more the taunt 

Of vengeful foes my waiting ear did haunt; 

They fled — the northern horde — from me they fled; 

My country free, ne'er vain my blood was shed." 

"Soon dawn appeared upon my waking eyes, 
A fairer dawn ne'er lit the eastern skies ; 
I heard a voice, it sweetest rhythm spake, 
" My comrade brave, thy dream is o'er — awake." 
A softest hand, of dainty mold, clasped mine, 
I felt a press, as if of love divine; 
The tender light that shone from out her eyes 
Was mortal not, though mortal her disguise, 
And ere my scattered thoughts I could recall, 
Again she spake: " My chief did bravely fall ; 
Thou art my charge, I am thy chosen guide, 
Within my realms thou ever wilt abide." 



2l6 ZAMNA. 

Around I gazed, no earthly vale was seen, 
Alone the radiance and the warlike queen ; 
Then as through air unto these realms we sped, 
And ever since my soul on war has fed." 

As Zamna heard the fate of those who die 
In war, his thoughts to battle fields did fly; 
And then, unto the warriors cold and still, 
When festive mirth the lighted hall did fill. 
He asked : " Is death among this glorious lot, 
Where woe will reign, and warriors lives are 

naught ? ' ' 
The answer was : "Is not the gallant strife 
But clang of arms, where life is sought for life ? 
Who conquers reigns a king within the hall, 
Who falls abides the gracious dawning's call ; 
Thus, ever on, as sounds the deepening roll, 
The glad alarm awakes the dreaming soul, 
And all the gallant host arise again, 
The festal throng, and those among the slain ; 
See, where the eastern grey to changeful green 
Is passing, there the kingly hosts convene." 

The mazy curtains in soft tints arranged, 

To deeper hues, to scarlet soon were changed, 

And streaming fires flee from the glistening dome, 

Till roseate torrents down the columns roam. 

Low, somber, deep unto the startled ear, 

The tones reechoing shall the mortal hear, 

For as the sentry sees the flashing light 

Break on the east to reach the sacred height, 

Far rolls the drum's reverberating sound, 

And Zamna, awed, awaits the scenes profound. 



ZAMNA. 217 

Like to the lightnings glancing through the air, 
The martial hosts from out the halls repair; 
In bright array the sleeping warriors rise, 
And ring the shouts as gladness wakes the skies, 
Till on the mount, now clad with earliest morn, 
The countless bucklers flash an angry scorn, 
Where countless braves their leader's word awaits, 
For sweeps the foe from out the eastern gates. 

A lightsome van in roseate armor dressed, 
On front and flank to bugle paeans pressed 
Across the lea, and in the wake, the lance 
Foretold the fiery cohort's fierce advance; 
Then burst in splendor o'er the fleeing night, 
The kingly car to sweep the sacred height. 
In muteness Zamna gazed ; bewildered, he 
Beheld the armies cross the brightening sea, 
Yet, as his glance towards the mount was turned, 
His heart revived , again with courage burned ; 

There waves of brazen shields the slope had 

changed, 
And glorious warriors, in grim order ranged 
Await the word — the center, left, and right, 
Were worthy guardians of the sacred height. 
The grisly chieftain kenn'd the moment true, 
The signal gave — then rose a ringing hue; 
Adown the steep with dizzy speed to race, 
With lance at rest, or high the cleaving mace, 
The center flies, and from the whirling cloud 
The rumbling seems like thunder long and loud. 
The mortal sees the glint as flies the dart, 
The blaze of shield the deadly aim to thwart, 



2l8 ZAMNA. 

And maddened cries, as vengeful foemen meet, 
The listening ear of Zamna now does greet. 

As might the waves of phosphorescence bright, 
On meeting, dash to fiery spray their light, 
Upon that sea the warring waves collide 
With splendor unsurpassed all else to hide; 
The lightsome van, like tempest driven spray, 
Falls 'neath the Snakes' resistless downward way, 
And rank on rank of the advancing foe 
Are crushed ere they withstand the onward flow; 
Commingled then, the striving masses smite, 
And thrust and parry yield a quenchless light. 
Now on the right the chieftain takes command, 
His watchful eye o'ersees the gallant stand, 
Where the bold center holds its crimsoned way 
Against the ardent cohorts of the Day; 
Then like a singing bolt, 'mid thrilling cries, 
The gallant wing adown the mountain flies. 

On sweeps the foe relentless in its ire, 
And valiant braves to glorious death aspire; 
Like autumn leaves the Cloud Snakes fall aside 
The path where upward rolls the ruthless tide, 
Until their might no longer can restrain 
The fearless onslaught on the burning plain. 
The bugle sounds, unto a higher crest, 
Their final stand, resisting, they are pressed, 
While sweeps the throng victorious up the height 
And follows on the golden car of light. 

As Zamna sees the wavering lines of strife, 
And hears the clang of frenzied tumult rife, 



ZAMNA. 219 

'Tis scarcely his the power his soul restrain, 
Which bids him on, and strike with arm amain ; 
But, when the foe triumphant onward flies, 
Dismay and awe are mingled with surprise, 
For in the van, with flashing blade in air, 
Comes now his foe who bled upon the stair ; 
A burning thrill the mortal feels, that he 
His arm had slain, again his foe will be; 
A bound, unto his feet he fiercely springs, 
And from his form the shrouding mantle flings, 
But ere his arm can grasp the jeweled sword, 
A chill, a tremor is his quick reward ; 
Subdued upon that height is mortal fire, 
Which dared in wars immortal to aspire. 

On came the host, and followed on the car, 
And shouts and taunts resounded near and far ; 
The clash of armor with the weapons keen 
In turmoil rolled, and lightning was the sheen, 
And crimson were the slopes as warriors fell, 
Until retreat did sound a sullen knell. 

As backward were the Cloud Snakes pressed, 

the left 
With swiftness passed adown, from cleft to cleft, 
And deep defile, until the lea was near, 
To wait the word, then charge upon the rear. 
The guardian shouts : " The victory soon is won ! 
The noble left advancing have begun." 
Ere said the words, loud were the vaunting cries, 
The rush was made, the rear in deep surprise: 

Ivike to a surge unloosened from the sea, 



220 ZAMNA. 

Which sweeps the slope, and bids all things to flee. 
On, up and over, down the western slant, 
Triumphant roll the ranks of adamant, 
And round the sacred car they throng, they slay, 
The battered shield has lost its bright array; 
Then rally all, for all the Cloud Snakes strive 
With might amain their hapless foes to rive. 
Down sinks the car, and flees the hosts of morn, 
The victory won, the clouds their braves adorn. 
There Zamna sees, with all their tinted fires 
Upon the mountain's dome, the gilded spires, 
The drapings, stately arches and the walls ; 
Return again the Cloud Snakes' festal halls : 
Then, throng the warriors to the merry feast, 
Where all are great, and none are known as least. 

Again the guardian speaks : " The hour is o'er, 

Pass on thy pathway to the mortal shore ; 

Then down the mount they go, the warrior true 

His homeward way to battle with the blue, 

Though many days ere his the ford to find, 

And leave the country of the foe behind. 

He sees anear his native hills arise 

Like somber walls amid the dotted skies; 

The kindled fires foretell the foemen near, 

As he advances to his people dear; 

Then, at the morn, upon the battle field 

Bold Zamna leads the van with spear and shield. 



Blest is the home, if at the gate 
A father's kiss his children wait — 
And waiting, find him never late. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 221 



THE LAODICIAN. 

I hear the bell with solemn cadence toll 

The vesper call, 
And as the tones in silvery echoes roll, 
I see the throngs with leisure footsteps stroll 

Towards the hall. 

Its lofty spire, alike the burnished sheen 

Of armor bright, 
There grandly keeps its ceaseless watch between 
The azure sky and waving foliage green, 

By day and night. 

The great doors open, and the tramping crowd 

Pass down the aisle; 
Resonant swells the organ deep and loud, 
And twirring lights flow in a mazy cloud 

From dome and tile. 

The gaudy bonnet flaunts a waving plume, 

And murdered bird ; 
The pastor seeks a moment to illume 
A darkened soul, yet, like an empty room, 

No knock is heard. 

The deep pipes sound again, the footsteps press 

The velvet way; 
Then smiles a moment some sweet lips caress, 
Yet, every one, in all their showy dress, 

Forgot to pray. 



222 MISCEI/IyANEOUS. 

WAKE FROM THY SLUMBER. 

Wake, ye men, from slumber wake ? 

See the dawn's fair ray; 
Rise, dreaming mortal — take 

Thy own part to-day. 

Be thy portion to adorn 

Life's path this morning hour — 

A frown upon it casts a thorn, 
A kind word plants a flower. 

Sweet flowers of humanity 

We plant — time gently weaves 

A garland, where fond words will be 
Like blooms among the leaves. 

Sweet blossoms which embower life's way, 
Till hate, like thorns shall die; 

Yet, if some plant a thorn to-day, 
Let love be th}^ reply. 



THOUGHT. 



Thought is the germ of the soul immortal, 
Swiftly it flies by the day giving star ; 
Passing in safety death's sullen portal, 
Shades of the mind are speeding afar. 

Even the clouds of the past it can sever, 
Sees the beyond in the future's dim ray, 



MISCELLANEOUS. 223 

Bearing its treasured remembrance, it ever 
Glides by the worlds in the soul's pathway. 

Like a freed bird on the wide azure ocean, 
Restlessly onward, it seeks the pure light, 
Till with the storms and the billow's commotion 
It leaves the coarse fetter of night. 



HONOR. 

Fair Honor dwelleth on the lofty hills, 

Above the common plain ; 
Who seeks to breathe the pureness she instills, 

Shall often toil in vain, 
Yet, striving up the steep incline 
O'er rugged ways, need he repine? 

For though, uneven winds the path he leads, 

Ambition lends a hand, 
Sustains a wavering hope of glorious deeds, 

And aids him to withstand 
The wearinees he often feels, 
When gloom along his pathway steals. 

Can mortal ever climb the steep ascent 

Where Honor reigns sublime, 
Save, Virtue pure a kindliness has lent, 

To aid the toiler climb ? 
Ah nay, Ambition sets the pace, 
But Virtue must the pathway trace. 



224 WAR OF THE ANTS 



WAR OF THE ANTS AND FIRE-FLIES. 

Night, sable queen, looks on a dreary land, 
Where once the sunlight woke a merry song, 
But changed the hour, and now war's sad lament 
Reechoes from the chasm of the past. 

A Lady-fly o'erspread her rosy wings 
To dance among the moonbeams on the lawn, 
And thus amused, she rested on a leaf, 
While from beneath appeared an Ant, and said : 
" May we together swing, and drink the joy 
Which flows abundant from the cup of love ? " 
In vain the words, yet, distance fed the flame, 
Until, o'erzealous, he the leaflet climbed, 
But chanced her kinsmen on the jeweled green, 
And cries of anger chilled his deep intent ; 
No longer thought he of the maiden fair, 
For down he fell, unconquered until slain. 

Inert and cold the dauntless lover lay 

When glistened from the east the morning beam, 

And came the workers from the hill, to find 

A kinsman dead, a foeman's brutal deed. 

Loud rang the cries, and unto martial strains, 

A mighty nation spoiled for glorious war, 

Till sleep a mantle threw upon the scene, 

And silence reigned, save, at the council hall. 

There sat the lords and worthy leaders old, 

And tier on tier uprose a slanting way, 



AND FlRK-KIvIEvS. 225 

Where thronged a host of Ants, the words to hear 
Which must like thunder echo o'er the land ; 
Then spake an Ant : "This day upon the mead 
A brother ours, undaunted, strove amain, 
Till weighty numbers bore him to the ground. 
The Lady-flies, a heartless, weakly race, 
With trembling wait a nation's just decree." 

" To war ! to war ! " resounded in the hall, 
Till lulled to stillness v for a cautious one 
Arose and said : " Preeminent are they 
Who hold the treasures of a fruitful land ; 
Are we not richer than the countless hordes 
Who toil and strive to pay a righteous due ? 
While with the day does not an humble slave 
Request permission to retain his name ? 
War never pays for prestige fair, when we 
May loan them riches, thus to own them soon." 

He ceased. As visions on the wings of wealth 
Were flitting by the host inclined for war, 
They answered : " Bravo ! every stain is gone:" 
But, ere the wild delight to quiet lulled. 
Arose the words: " Hail, leaders of a race 
Soon destined to o'errule all mortal things ! 
Retrace, O waves, thy steps with awe ! O hills 
Reecho to the sound of arms, and winds 
Advance the paean of our victory ! 
Let every foe, if weak, know that the Ants 
Yield not the footprint of a conquest won, 
And that our mandate is their law, and we 
Gain fair indemnity, or quickly move 



226 WAR OF THK ANTS 

\ 

To waste their fields, while ruin stalks behind ; 
May this, O Ants, our ultimatum he." 

As might a river flow a peaceful way, 
Before the plunge upon the rocks below, 
The hearers waited till the voice was still, 
Then, like the waters maddened by the fall, 
Uprose a tumult of exhultant glee; 
Ere stilled the sound an Ant of learning cried : 
" My kinsmen, pause, ere comes a heedless war ; 
Where breaks the day our risen hillocks lie, 
And sunset sees our cohorts stray the sands; 
Yet, is it w r ell, that we, to heartless strife 
Should plunge, and cause a happy land to mourn, 
For only this, our kinsman loved too well ? 
If we would have our boasted virtues rise, 
Submit our discords to our lesser friends, 
And know that mercy is the height of power." 
Then, as they listened unto else than greed, 
Enraged, the youth rushed forth and tore him 

limb 
From limb; and as the valleys glowed with morn, 
A courtier hastened on his way, to tell 
The Lady-flies the judgment of their foes. 

As thus the hour was passing in the hall, 
The council listened to the chieftain's words: 
" My colleagues, know the time for thought is 

now 7 . 
A country restless, and a weakened power, 
Must find a pretext for aggressive w r ar, 
Or our own subjects breathing purer air, 



AND FIRK-FUKS. 227 

Will rise for freedom, dooming us to toil. 
'Twas yesterday the pretext came, and we 
Unto the horde put forth an earnest cause, 
Though seeming vain, for comes a message ill. 
Know that the Fire-flies, rising in their might, 
Have said a nation is but one of all , 
And as we judge a subjects deeds, shall we 
Together try a country's right and wrong ; " 

Then from a nook an Ant a leaflet rolled, 
While on the ends the lords of war reposed 
To hold it even for a careful view. 
11 My noble chieftains," spake the peerless one, 
4 'Before us see the work of many years; 
Here live the Fire-flies, every arbor marked, 
The hillsides, hedges, and the deep lagoon 
Here traced, prepared to wage aggressive war. 
If they restrain us from our chosen end, 
We move an army by a warfare planned, 
And strike them ere they know of foemen near; 
Our portion to beguile them, then to teach 
The Lady-flies a lesson not forgot. 

When rose the morn in softest orient glow, 
Forth sweeps the dread invaders on their foes, 
The Lady-flies, o'erbowed with doleful fear; 
Soon o'er the lawn the columns move upon 
Their mild antagonists, that fled in vain, 
For few alone found shelter in a tree. 

A sweetest draught the word was from the field ; 
With deep delight each Ant did quaff the news, 



2 28 WAR OF THE ANTS 

Until o'erfilled, elated, they beheld 

The dawning of a glorious destiny. 

But, ere the morn, a Frog and Fire-fly met 

Anear the deep lagoon, and spake the Frog, 

"A kindred purpose holds the strangers friends, 

And friends it binds with bands of breakless 

strength; 
vSay ever)' frog with sleepless zeal, at morn 
Will see.k the fruitful strife, and blot for aye 
The stain upon the pages of the past." 
Thus said, he hid beneath the reed-lined lake, 
And sped the Fire-fly with a challenge bold, 
Like a grim knight of yore. 

Then by the plans 
Prepared, upon the wave 'tween shore and shore, 
A strange flotilla dipped its way serene, 
To wondering strangers and to gazing friends; 
Exultant hosts beheld it leave the sands, 
Then valor rose on fearless wing, and cried, 
"Come, weakly mites, and pay thy righteous due." 
Thus sped the warriors with a iiim resolve 
Each trembling foe to slay, until a shout 
11 We are the Frogs : revenge V rose from the deep, 
Then each destroyer sought a fated craft, 
Upon it rushed, and quickly on the wave 
Alone was wreckage and a struggling throng; 

A bitter pill the Ants that hour absorbed, 
Yet, fail to purge themselves of ill intent; 
For, over mead where peace and plenty reigned, 
A mighty host advanced, and joyous, cried: 
11 O happy hour, w 7 e gain the Fire-flies' home !" 



AND FXRE-FUES. 229 

Ere stilled the sound, appeared a cloud of Flies, 
Around their foes a circling way to wheel, 
And then, upon the startled warriors fell 
A shower of pebbles, and the sunny field 
Was darkened with the numbers of the slain. 

As crept the gloaming o'er the plain of woe, 
Within a cave the remnant of the chiefs 
A council held, the day's defeat to rue; 
" My valiant brothers," said a leader old, 
""A doleful hour is setting into night; 
The Frogs, our allies, breaking every bond 
Of kindred purpose and united weal, 
Embraced the moment of a foreign war 
To strike a deadly blow. Their sweet revenge — 
The gallant host which left the mother shore, 
In silence lies among the swaying reeds, 
While o'er the field our warriors cold and still 
With muteness tell us of a grim defeat." 

As thus the leaders spake amid the gloom, 

Arose a cheering ray of light, the words, 

; ' If subtle deeds restrain our cherished end, 

Can they o'ercome the will of destiny ? 

The Frogs may haunt deep lagoon, and Flies 

Sweep o'er the meadow, cast the hurtling showers, 

Yet, safely we, by tunnels hidden wound, 

Can make them from aggressive strife refrain. 

Let every Ant unharmed, united toil 

In windings deep beneath the Fire-flies' grove, 

That shrivelling trees and fading hedge may hear 

A nation's wail upon a desert land; 



230 WAR OF THE ANTS 

Now changed is warfare, and successful they 
Who seize the treasures of undaunted foes, 
And thus compel the suit for gracious peace." 

When sped the wings of dawn the lightsome way 
The Fire-flies wakened, sought again the strife, 
But, as their armies circled o'er the field, 
Beneath they saw alone the mangled forms, 
Where silence reigned, and death did grimly 

guard 
The fallen cohorts of their foemen bold; 
Then rose the songs, and joyous was the hour; 
And paeans, vauntings flowed upon the air; 
" Hail, mighty race, preeminent in power ! 
That on the wings of destiny beholds 
A fairer light, and breathes a purer air 
Than the}^ who travail in an humble mold." 

Bre stilled the anthems of delight, arose 
A murmuring of ill, and then convened 
A council of the Flies. Ah, speeches long 
Proclaimed their nation safe from every harm, 
Till, came an answer from the shrivelling grove, 
Then rose a nation earnest for the war. 



Thus said the chieftain : " Triumph is to wage 

Successful ruin on the foemen's land, 

That starving, fainting, will their minions call 

For respite, and submit unto our will. 

Let all the Fire-flies cross the deep lagoon, 

And lay each hillock level with the plain, 

That what our portion is their lot may be, 



AND FIRE-FL1KS. 23 1 

A triumpli come to him who most can stand." 
Then sped the armies on their gleaming wings, 
And ere a day the startled Ants awoke 
To feel the hurtling tempest, and to see 
Above the clouds of earnest, rageful foes; 
Soon was each fortress beaten to the ground, 
All hope forlorn, for quickly lost to them 
The sunshine, beauty of the morn and eve, 
And darkness, save, the vengeful light of wings, 
Was theirs alone as woe succeeded woe. 

Yet, wound the tunnels 'neath the Fire-flies' 

home, 
Till tendrils twain must bid the arbors fade, 
The blossoms die, the rills no longer flow; 
Destruction, ruin lent a willing hand, 
And countless numbers died, that victory's branch 
Might rest upon their nation, famed to be 
In after years the ruler of a world. 
Vain effort theirs, and every art w 7 as vain, 
For never good can end an action ill; 
Thus thought the Frogs; they felt the troublous 

hour, 
And o'er the wide lagoon was heard the cry, 
"Q nations, may this wrath and warring cease, 
The cause is slight for this tremendous harm." 
Then o'er the sand and barren plains was borne 
The voicing, and the foemen heard the call, 
To pause and question; then, with oue accord 
The chieftains met in council once again. 

The Frogs, the Fire-flies, and the fearless Ants, 
In meek debate, for such the lesson taught, 



2J2 MISCELLANEOUS. 

Resolved : " That warfare is a needless 111 ^ 
Ambition's child, the kin of vice and woe; 
That peace, a ray within a stainless sky, 
Will brighter shine, until a fruitful land 
Bids every rnite reclaim its portion here." 
Then said an Ant : "A gracious compact make 
That as the atom bows to mightier power, 
So shall a nation yield to chosen will; 
And as the noble Fire-flies rule the air, 
The Frogs the water, and the Ants the land, 
We three together will in council sit, 
And our decision molds a breakless bond; 
By this alone we gain our destiny." 
The remnant sought again their wasted homes. 
And of the slain but one alone was thought 
A hero — he who dared to speak for peace, 
Ere burst a warfare on a prosperous land. 



Man's measure is not taken where 
He prays, but in his fireside chair; 
If love's own light will softly glow 
Upon his wife's fair cheeks, we know 
He is a man — he is a king, 
And angel choirs around him sing. 



Sweet Hope too often, upward flies, 
Our Heaven to find within the skies: 
O needless flight — 'tis ever here, 
For Heaven is home without a tear.. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 233 

HOW CHANGED THINGS ARE TO ME. 

My spirit in the twilight strays 

Where my heart no more can roam, 
Unto my childhood's happy days, 

Unto my old — old home; 
Where joyous oft I climbed the hill, 

Or raced across the lea, 
My spirit gazes, and is still — 

How changed things are to me. 

The brook is dimpling on the mead, 

And the sweetest flowers there grow, 
The paths wind through the grove, and lead 

The steps where I used to go; 
But my spirit roams to night alone 

Where my heart can never be, 
For a light from there has ever flown — 

How changed things are to me. 

The old home looks the same as yore, 

And the trees are just as green, 
The same path marks the gate and door, 

But a stranger stands between ; 
Though my spirit waits for the welcome sound 

Of a voice which can not be, 
My heart abides at a new made mound — 

How changed things are to me. 

The twilight dims, and. the night shades fall ? 

And my childhood's home is gone; 
My spirit waits for the welcome call, 



234 MISCELLANEOUS* 

Then sadly wanders on, 
For a mother's voice is still to-day, 

And a light no more can be, 
For the night came down, and it fled away- 

How changed things are to me. 

My spirit has left its childhood's home, 

And seeks a mother where 
Alone the souls of the just can roam, 

But my heart is never there; 
It is ever near the grassy mound, 

Where its love must buried be ; 
And its sighs, as I scatter flowers around — 

How changed things are to me. 



REBUKING OF THE SEA. 

Dark is the night, as the lowering clouds sever 
Gleams of the skies from the blue Gallilee; 
Weird is the scene, as in wrath seeming ever 
Sweep the wild waves of the sea. 

Fair was the hour of the purple hued morning, 
Sweet was the shade of the palm trees at noon, 
Evening came softly, the gloaming adorning 
Lines of the far away dune. 

Gaily the vessel, as songs of devotion 
Chime with the rowers, speeds over the deep, 
Till the bleak storm wind with angry commotion 
Wakens the waves from their sleep. 



MISCKIJvANKOUS. 235 

Soft as a child that the cradle is nestling, 
Slumbers the Master from toil of the day; 
Bravely the seamen for life there are wrestling, 
Vain ! for each thought brings dismay. 

They in their anguish cry: " Save, or we perish ! " 
Rises the Master and lulls the dark sea; 
Kindly reproving, he speaks, "Thee I cherish; 
Why are ye fearful with me?" 

Gleam the bright stars from the fair azure heaven, 
Gently the vessel awaits at the strand ; 
Then are the palms, by the winds no more riven, 
Musing that wondrous command. 

Safe are we all as we sail on life's ocean, 
Though the storm rises and darkness may stain, 
If we have with us that one saving potion 
fulling the waves once again. 



NIGHT. 

The sun is glistening on the verdant hills, 
Yet, reddening in the purpling western hue, 
Within the clouds the radiant tint instills, 
And folds of crimson glow in ether blue. 

The gloaming gathers o'er the peaceful dale, 
And gently creeps upon the rugged height ; 
The stars gleam down upon the hill and dale, 
As wardens still, to keep the coming night. 



236 MISCELLANEOUS. 

A streamlet by the wayside softly flows, 
And murmurs at a rock unto the breeze; 
Then babbling downward, seeks a haunt, which 

knows 
Alone the bitter of the briny seas. 

As lowering darkness comes, in pensive mood 

I ponder o'er the sunset passed away, 

And here, within the evening's solitude, 

I think of night which heeds not break of day. 

Its mysteries I know not, yet, would find, 
Still phantom terror haunts not my repose; 
For though a night will dark my path behind, 
I look ahead and dawning softly glows. 

O Night, thy restful peace, though dark withal, 
Comes o'er me as I linger on life's way, 
Would that the darkness near was mine to call 
But fleeting shadings of a brighter day. 

O thought, O hope, O beautiful delight 

In that fair home upon the other shore, 

When all the clouds which robe our mortal night 

In glory fade and meet again no more. 



CAPERNAUM. 



Genessaret still softly casts its spray 

Upon the shore, or fierce its waves may urge, 

Yet, thou Capernaum art passed away; 



MISCELLANEOUS. 237 

Thy crumbling stones reecho but a dirge. 

There grow the reeds, where once the massive 

halls 
Called forth an echo from the sounding wave; 
There tendrils creep among the buried walls, 
And hide within their mantle green, thy grave. 

No fisher toils upon the shimmering sand, 
Nor stays to hear the Master's wondrous tale; 
No maiden waits to wave her dimpled hand, 
As o'er the sea may speed the lessening sail. 

The silent hills look down as they of yore 
Beheld the vineyards and the nestling glade, 
Where gently winding paths did wait before 
The cool retreat of branching olive shade. 

There naught they see, except, the matted brake, 
Where dwells the asp beneath the sunken stone; 
And naught they hear, unless the winds awake, 
And o'er thee bear the billow's somber moan. 



The rich in luxury and pomp may live, 
With fairest art within their gilded halls, 
Yet, those in poverty stern fate will give 
A home as cosy in the silent walls. 
Death comes to all, none can the call withstand, 
The leasing of no future hours have we; 
Youth, age and all await the ruthless hand 
Upon the surface of death's sullen sea. 



238 MISCELLANEOUS. 

OREGON. 



Where adown thy mountains glaciers 
Grinding, crashing, blend their flashing 
With the sunlit snoWs eternal 
Pictured on the walls of dawn — 
Where thy crags and coves are hiding 
Mighty rivers dashing, gliding, 
Conies a praise unto thy grandeur, 
Oregon. 

11. 

Where thy cliffsides meet the ocean's 
Surges bounding, hoarsely sounding, 
Rolling through thy gates, where ever 
Speed the stately vessels on, 
There a nation's wealth will enter, 
Trades increase and commerce center, 
Telling of thy fame and greatness, 
Oregon. 

in. 

Where the Inland's azure mountains 
Seem an ocean without motion, 
Risen, fallen, till the purple 
Of the distance rests thereon, 
Mines of gold, and fields as golden, 
Countless flocks and herds beholden, 
Voice the story of thy riches, 
Oregon. 

IV. 

Where Willamette flows and loiters, 
Never minding rock or winding, 



MISCELLANEOUS. 239 

Babbling, roaming, gliding onward, 
Singing unto every one, 
Happy homes and groves and bowers, 
Meads, and fields of fruits and flowers, 
Tell thy fair and lasting beauty 
Oregon. 

v. 

Pearl of all the golden Westland, 
Thou art peerless, like the fearless 
Pioneers who from thy mountains 
Gazed upon thy vales and sea; 
Pioneers, the noblest yoemen, 
Aiding friend, and daring foemen, 
Fighting, toiling, knowing ever 
They were free. 

VI. 

Like a glowing sun at morning, 
Setting never, thou art ever 
Glorious, golden, land Bdenic; 
Clad in plenty's fairest sheen ; 
Like the pines which shade thy bowers 
Are thy sons — and like thy flowers 
Fair and graceful, are thy daughters — 
Kach a queen. 

VII. 

Fairest of the states united, 
When the spangled banner tangled 
Its bright hues about thy breezes, 
Thou wert born a nation's pride; 
Nobly thou thy part obeyest, 
When the war's alarum swavest 



240 MISCELLANEOUS. 

Thy own sons, who 'neath that banner 
Fought and died. 

VIII. 

Like thy valleys alway vernal, 
Is thy present, fair and pleasant, 
Like thy mountains, sterling, stately, 
Will thy future be anon, 
When thy name is crowned with glory, 
And is heard in tale and story 
Thy abiding worth and grandeur, 
Oregon. 



IN A LAND OF DREAMS. 

In a land of dreams where the murmuring streams 

Are fed by the morning dew, 
Where the rainbow's curl hides the banks of pearl 

With a blend of the sunray's hue, 
I will sail in a boat of woven leaves, 
Which the tall trees grow, and the wild bird weaves 

As it sings — a-lu — re-lu. 

In that woven boat I will gaily float 

At night o'er the mirrored stars ; 
At the break of day I will speed away, 

And toss on the rainbow bars, 
And the wild bird's song and the wind's low sigh 
Where the tall trees grow on the pearl cliffs high, 

Will be my hardy tars. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 241 

If the tiniest leak will chance to sneak 

Through my shallop's graceful sides, 

With the breath of balm from an odorous palm 
I will pitch it, till it rides 

Like a bubble waft on the moonlit air, 

When naught but the sheen of the moon is there, 
And an elf of the breezes guides. 

I will ever sail where the fiercest gale 

Is the whirr of the sunbird's wings, 

Till my hardy tar at a mirrored star 
His ready bow line flings ; 

When I hear the welcome shout, "All fast ! " 

My boat will roll with the sunbird's blast 

In the pearl cliff harbor found at last, 

Where " a-lu " of the wild bird rings. 



ON OLIVET. 



O fair were the beams of the day, 
And sweet was the breath of the wind, 

As the olive trees waved o'er the low sloping way, 
By Kidron's soft babblings entwined ; 
And as Olivet rose o'er the plain, 
It beheld the lone garden below — 

In thee, haughty Zion, it heard the refrain 
Of the tread of the throngs to and fro. 

O loud were the shouts from the hill, 
And joyous the praises there sung, 
But the voice of the Master from sadness was still, 



242 miscellaneous. 

And his heart with deep anguish was wrung, 
For He thought of the city, so fair 
That its beauty was known o'er the world, 
Yet, He knew of the hour that its groves must be 
bare, 
And the walls from the high places hurled, 

When the sword of the mighty will slay, 
And the lash of the captor will drive; 

Then He cried : "O thou city, how sad is the day 
When thou with the Master didst strive, 
For a cloud with the darkness of night 
Shall cover thy hill-tops and lea, 

And the joy of the home, and the heart's fond 
delight 
From that moment forever will flee." 

O swift is the glistening spear, 

And the horsemen in corselets of gold, 

And the shout of the warriors will cause thee to fear, 
As the armies thy ramparts enfold ; 
Then the dust of the battle will rise, 
And envelope thy land with its cloud — 

Ah, ever for thee will hide the fair skies, 
As it rests on thy dead as a shroud. 



The pharisee sees not a throne, 
Except, it be of wood or stone; 
He prays and weeps, but, never knows 
The heavenly light which softly flows 
From God's own throne — 'tis ever where 
The meek and lowly bow in prayer. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 243 

A BOAT OF RED, RED LEAVES. 

A flower has bloomed for thee, love, 

In the garden of my heart, 
And the winds upon the sea, love, 

Will bear it where thou art ; 

It is a red, red rose, love, 

Which I place in a boat of leaves, 

That it ever may repose, love, 

Where thy snow white bosom heaves. 

The garden of my heart, love, 

Is sere with a hope no more, 
For my rose is where thou art, love, 

And alone I stray the shore. 

It is my gift to thee, love, 

And its boat of red, red leaves, 
May cause thee think of me, love, 

When it on thy bosom heaves. 

Would that it safely glides, love, 

Upon that snow white deep, 
Till in thy heart it hides, love, 

And fhou my love wilt keep. 



The icy north has sunny streams, 
The pleasant dales their happy dreams, 
The desert plain a balmy air — 
O nature, thou art kind and fair. 



244 MISCELLANEOUS. 

NIGHT ON THE RIVKR. 

Slowly falls the silent twilights shading 

O'er Columbia's tide, 
Softly stars the shadowy depths invading, 

Like fair shallops glide, 
Dipping in the dainty rippling billows, 

Racing with the breeze 
Sighing in the closely clustered willows, 

And the cotton trees. 

O'er the waters are the outlined mountains, 

Grayish in the sky; 
At my feet the dripping limpid fountains 

Soothe the wind's low sigh ; 
Then the moonlight on the pale bars sparkling, 

Glints the lonely shore, 
And the wild swan from its rest is startling 

At the dipping oar; 

For the tide the sunken net is drifting 

O'er the placid bar, 
Comes the sound of boatmen gently shifting 

Sails upon the spar; 
Then the echoes of the even rapping 

From a distant boat, * 

Tell the fishermen are casting — 'tis the tapping 

Of the wooden float. 

Round the bend the brilliant lighted steamer 

Passes on her way, 
Lines of sparks, alike a burning streamer, 

On the night air play; 



MISCELLANEOUS. 245 

From her sides the waters foaming, breaking, 

Roll unto the shore, 
And among the canyons are awaking 

Ocean's distant roar. 

Gleams the camp fire where the hunter sleeping 

Dreams of happy morn, 
When the deer from out the copse is leaping — 

Rings the distant horn; 
Then the owl its hooting stills, for sounding 

Is the beagle's bay; 
And the boat the jutting point is rounding, 

Ready for the fray. 

Soon a pale green in the eastern heaven 

Deepens into blue, 
Though the stars, not yet to slumber driven, 

Gleam a dimming hue; 
But the morn with golden glory rises, 

Then the birds sweet time 
Tells the hour that night no more disguises 

Columbia's gates sublime. 



IN A BOAT OF CLOUD. 

In a boat of cloud, as its purple wings 

Will beat on the fleecy sea, 
I would sail away where the starlight brings 

Glad notes of song to me; 
I would feel the sway of the billowy air, 

As the purple cloud will glide, 



246 MISCELLANEOUS. 

And soar away on the moonbeams fair, 
And toss on the silvery tide. 

I would race with the rays o'er the mountains 
high, 

And beneath see the golden halls, 
With the ocean winds I would gaily fly, 

And moor on the morning's walls; 
I would mingle my joy with the cloud's glad song, 

As we through the heavens stray, 
And away to the realms of the starry throng 

I would speed with the beams of the day. 



THOU, LIGHT OF MY HEART. 

I would speed where my heart 
Bids me fly unto thee, 
I would haste where thou art 
Awaiting for me. 

On the wings of the wind my soul would arise, 
And soar like a bird, till it rests at thy feet; 
With the eyes of my love I would gaze in thy eyes, 
And thy quick throbbing heart would feel my 
heart beat. 

Like skylarks which ride 
On the airy abyss, 
Our spirits will glide 
To the haven of bliss. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 247 

I would drink of thy smiles until drunk with delight, 
I would feast on the kisses which fall from thy lips, 
And the warmth of thy presence would soothe me 

at night, 
As I sleep till the sun on the airy main dips. 

As the moon only glows 
When the sun on it beams, 
My heart only knows 
The light of its dreams. 

Thou, Light of my Heart, I would rest at thy side, 
I would burn in the rays of thy eloquent eyes, 
Though passion consume me, I still would abide 
A flower on thy bosom which withers and dies. 

I would speed where thou art 
Awaiting for me; 
Thou, Light of my Heart, 
I would fly unto thee. 



THB LOST SOUL. 



To a region of disorder, 
Just beyond the gloomy border 
Of the mystic Lethean river, 
Passed a disembodied soul — 
Passed a melancholy spirit, 
And the gloomy crags anear it 
Whispered sadly, weirdly, "Stranger, 
See thy goal." 



248 MISCELLANEOUS. 



There it gazed adown the chasm, 
Where with ceaseless groan and spasm 
Cliffs were toppling in a lurid, 
Hissing, seething, swirling deep; 
Ah, it gazed — while with the groaning 
Of the mountains, it was moaning, 
" Let me flee this dream of being ! " 
" Let me sleep." 

Tearless eyes were bent in sorrow 
Over where was no to-morrow, 
Only sad and certain waiting 
For a day which never came; 
Only anguish — pang and anguish, 
Where the hopeless soul shall languish 
On that dreadful chasm's mad, 
Undying flame. ♦ 

Back across the Lethean river, 
Gurgling, sullen, changing never, 
It beheld a ray of sunset 
Fading into endless gloom; 
.As that ray of hope was gleaming, 
Cried the spirit : " I am dreaming — 
This is some hallucination — 
Not the tomb." 

Down it looked — The years returning 
In that night of nights were burning — 
Years where wanton, fancied pleasure 
Reckoned not on years to be. 
Back — aghast, from that disorder 



MISCELLANEOUS. 249 

Gazed the soul across the border — 
Not a hope nor ray of sunset 
It did see. 

Moans and groans of walls upheaving, 
Seemed the wails of terror weaving 
Chains around it, breakless, binding, 
Clanking, " Stranger, see thy doom ! " 
With one shriek of frenzied madness, 
Blended with all human sadness, 
Plunged that spirit downward — downward 
To its doom. 



MY SEASIDE HOME- 



O come to my home on the hill 
Caressed by the spray of the main, 
Where the voice of the murmuring rill 
Will blend with the billows' refrain ; 
Come where the tall hemlocks grow, 
And repose in the cool of the shade, 
Where the golden hued mosses will grow. 
And carpet with beauty the glade. 

Fair are the tints of the dew, 

And sweet is the odor of flowers, 

Can art in its grandeur renew 

The charm of the crags and the bowers? 

The songs that I there ever hear, 

What voice is as sweet as is theirs ? 



250 MISCELLANEOUS . 

Though assemblies may listen and cheer, 
And forget for a moment their cares. 

With the morning's soft glow on the deep 
I stray o T er the dunes by the shore, 
Or roam on the cliffs bleak and steep, 
While the ocean birds over me soar; 
As I glance o'er the lines of the foam 
Where the skies and the rolling waves meet, 
Through the haze, to her far away home 
I will see the lone vessel retreat. 

When the sunset has tinted the sea, 
The dusk of the gloaming will fall, 
And the stars in the heavens will be 
When awakens the low vesper call 
Of the dove as it coos to its mate, 
Of the gull as it cries from the fell, 
And I rest, from my dreams to awake 
Sweetly knowing each day is all well. 



BEAUTY MEETS US EVERYWHERE. 

Life is gladness — Earth is fair, 
Beauty meets us everywhere, 
Comes and smiles — sweetly smiles 
On life's unreturning miles. 

Yet, we often miss the flower 

In its bower, 
And the bird would sing in vain, 
If it sang to us its strain, 



MISCELLANEOUS. 25I 

For, thought-blinded, often we 
Scarcely see — never see 
Beauty's smiles, nor pause to hear 
Gladness near. 

Hate is real — ill is real, 
Joy and love not less will be; 
Every day may all reveal 
To you — to me. 

If we will, we truly may 

Cast ill away; 
And if hate we firmly scorn, 
It will flee like night from morn— 
If not blind to beauty here, 
Cold to love and memories dear, 
For us is a song and flower 

Every hour. 



INDIAN ROCK, 



Where Columbia rolls and rages 
To the dalles., a rock appears, 
Chiselled by the hand of ages, 
Changeless in the fight of years, 
And an Indian's features, massive, 
There are outlined — cold and passive- 
Nature's idol for the Red men's 
hopes and fears. 

There, 'tis said, the wolf god, gazing 
Upward, would with Heaven vie; 



252 MISCELLANEOUS. 

By his arrow chain upraising-, 
Soon was heard his battle cry; 
Crash of club awoke the thunder, 
Flashed the lightnings, till, asunder 
Broke the chain, and ten long years he 
fell to die. 

Like a meteor he descended, 
And the dalles deep sounding knell 
For the Red man's friend, was blended 
With the wolf god's taunting yell ; 
There his grave is — the Great Spirit 
Carved and placed this rock anear it, 
Marking where an Indian Titan 
strove and fell. 



THE CITY OF NIGHT. 

There's a city known an " Night,' 

Lit alone by lurid light 

From the demon governed zone 

Known as Doom; 
Every soul within that place 
Has a painted, harlot face, 
Sullen, soulless, where has flown 

What should illume. 

There are houri robed in red, 
There are men on passion fed, 
There are ghouls — there are fools- 
There are knaves ; 



MISCELLANEOUS. 253 

There are heartless, hopeless creatures, 
Devil sired with human features, 
Grinning o'er demoniac rules — 
They are slaves. 

1 
Some have brains without a soul, 

Some are brainless, and the roll 

Of their idiotic eyes 

Tells the blank; 
Some have ears which never hear, 
Save, the clank of gold is near, 
And their arrogance and lies 

Mark their rank. 

There the knaves the fools are telling 
Fairy tales, until, the swelling 
Of the heads will part the bands 

Of their hats ; 
There the ghouls drink blood of woman, 
Working child — and call it human, 
And the slaves hold up their hands, 

As blind as bats. 

There are walls and moats and tower, 
Where a ghastly fiend devours 
Human life — that fiend is War, 

And it cries : 
" Life for life — ambition — fame, 
Riches — lust — the sword — the flame; 
Come, my creatures — see the star 

Of glory rise." 

Ah, that city is on Karth, 
And it is of human birth ; 



254 MISCELLANEOUS. 

Civilization answers ' ' Here I ' ' 

To the call ; 
Though she answers, yet, she weeps r 
Mourns that man, so erring, keeps 
Prostituting love — in fear 

Is blind to all. 



O would thou wert a mountain lake, 
And I a leaf upon thy bosom 
Rocking in sweet dream ; 
Though wafted on unto that hidden stream. 
Thy outlet — until then thy tide 
Would swell for me — 
And I would call thee — bride. 



THE HERMIT'S COVE. 

The air is warm, the winds are sweet 
With odors from the surges blown, 
And soothing is the ceaseless moan 
Of breakers drifting at my feet ; 
So dear withal, this lonely cove, 
That here a hermet did condone 
A world, yet, will no more to rove; 
But live within thy presence, ocean, cliff and 
grove. 

Who would deride his chosen home, 
Where rocks arise from out the deep, 



MISCELLANEOUS. 255 

Encircled by the noisome sweep 
Of racing waves and eddying foam — 
Where stately hemlocks pink the skies, 
And dainty rills soft murmurs keep, 
Would gaze on beauty with surprise, 
And long for coarser things — perhaps, their own 
disguise. 

I see the sun move on its way, 
The deep awaits its stately flight, 
And eagles call upon the height 
Unto the laughing, mirthful spray; 
Alone I am, but lonely not, 
For here is all which gives delight 
To one who knows that wealth is naught, 
And power or fame to love has ever been untaught. 

They pass away, and darkness nears, 
No glow of sunset fills the space; 
As sand marks by the waves erase, 
They go, and only left are fears; 
But round me silvery hues abide, 
And mazy cloudlets interlace 
The hills of gold and snow, which hide 
The red sun sinking low upon the ocean's tide. 

Each tint is mine, for melt the snows 
Upon the mountains of the main ; 
The radiant streams the waters stain, 
And each unto my haven flows ; 
The fiery chasms ope their doors, 
O'erfilled with treasures not in vain, 



256 MISCELLANEOUS. 

For precious gems will pave the shores, 
And mingle with the rocks by which the ocean 
roars. 



LOVE AND LIFE CAN NEVER DIE. 

Haughty Greece, O mighty nation, 
Lowly thou art ever laid, 
Peerless Rome, a vain elation 
Caused thy grandeur thus to fade; 
Yet, the stars are softly glancing 
On thy isles and emerald seas, 
■On thy ruins gaily dancing 
Are the shadows with the breeze; 
Though man in his grave doth lie, 
Nature fair can never die. 

Monarchs, princes, menials sleep 
In the dust, all levelled they, 
And the sightless worm will creep 
In the cherished house of clay; 
Anger, scorn, like clouds may lower, 
Yet, upon a beacon tower 
Love is shining pure and fair, 
Love — undying love is there. 

Falls a leaf, it drifts away, 
Fades a blossom in a night, 
Merry feet about us play, 
Happy smiles and glances bright 



MlSCKIvIvANKOUS. 257 

Sparkle for a moment only, 
Cone are they, and we are lonely; 
Yet, death is a brief transition — 
Life has round another mission ; 
Morning glints another sky — 
Love and life can never die. 



I THINK OF THEE. 

I am alone, and hear the sigh 
Of twilight winds within the tree, 
I see the star gleams sink and die 
Behind the hills — and think of thee; 
In re very my soul had flown 
To hours thou fondly passed with me, 
Prom which I wake to be alone — 
To be alone and think of thee. 

The bird without a mate may sing 
Within its bower and joy may know, 
The lonely mountain haunt may bring 
The flower the love which bids it glow; 
But from my lips no joyful strain 
Can bid my heart less lonely be, 
Nor can my cheeks their rose regain, 
If thou art far away from me. 

This evening's hour I fondly wait 
Thy welcome step upon the lawn, 
I hear the turning of the gate, 
And roses glow my cheeks anon ; 



258 MISCELLANEOUS. 

Yet, quickly every sound has flown, 
Except, the winds within the tree, 
And I remain this hour alone — 
To be alone, and think of thee. 



SONG OF THE OCEAN GROVE. 

Deep is the voice of the breakers, yet, never 
Harsh are the echoes which wake from the strain, 
Where the tall trees by the clifFsides are ever 
Chanting the rage of the main. 

Hear the deep rumble — it is a mad billow 
Lashing the cavern — though dreadful the rage, 
Soft is the sigh of the low waving willow 
Wishing its wrath to assuage. 

Comes a lone note from the cove, and the calling 
Wakens a nymph which abides at the hill ; 
Like to the musings of winds softly falling, 
Answers the murmuring rill. 

Silent the boulders are seeming, yet, surely 
They have a part in this wonderful band ; 
And the lone dunes are chanting demurely 

With winds which are drifting the sand. 

With a low rhythm the sigh of the bowers 
Calls to the leaves which twirl as they fall ; 
Softly and sweetly the dainty moss flowers 
Smile a glad anthem to all. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 259 

Warbling of birds, and squirrels' rejoicing, 
Flitting of butterflies, humming of bees, 
Blend with the sunlight and shadows a voicing 
One not only hears, but sees. 

Sweeter than chords which are touched by a 

maiden, 
Like to the mystical song of the star, 
Like a sweet echo from far away Aidenn, 
Is the song of the grove by the bar. 



THE LOVE LADEN MAIDEN. 

There's a maiden by the ocean, 
Sadly musing with the sea, 
There sojourning, she is yearning 
For a lover and a tree; 
For a lover's fond devotion, 
And an arbor's grateful shade 
O'er the dear and winsome maiden 
Love laden — yet, afraid. 

The violet of her glances 
Would be sunshine unto thee, 
And the naiad or the dryad 
Are not as fair as she, 
As she artlessly advances 
And dips within the spray — 
The sweet and charming maiden 
Love laden all the day. 



260 MISCELLANEOUS. 

On the beach the lover's hour 
Is when twilight glints the sea; 
Then with all the skies her bower , 
She is charming — she is free — 
And no yearning is returning 
As they stray the moonlit strand — 
The dear love laden maiden 
And her lover hand in hand. 



All life is but an ocean deep and wide, 
Where progress rolls full oft a swirling tide; 
The ships are nations, and the people are 
The winds which waft them on the wave afar: 
On seas serene each vessel safely goes, 
If reefs are near the people's tempest blows; 
Then, skilled the pilot who in safety veers 
Away from rocks until a haven nears. 



America, majestic, 
In the morning of the glory 
Thou art towering o'er the nations 
Like a mountain o'er the hills. 
On a promontory golden thou art builded, 
And the halo of thy grandeur is upon thee; 
Like the brightness of the noonday is thy splendor, 
And thy strength as cliffs which battle with the seas. 
Thou art beautiful — in freedom is thy beauty, 
Marred not, till strange peoples kneel to thee. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 261 

WESTWARD, HO! 
I. 

They who crossed the trackless prairies, 
Pathways grooving, boldly proving 
That beyond the sunset's portals 
Morning's golden meadows glow, 
They who cared for friend and stranger, 
Boldly meeting every danger, 
Knew no mandate, save, this only: 
" Westward, Ho!" 

11. 

Titan-hearted, they were ever 
Fearless, hardy, never tardy 
When the bowstring twanged the anger 
Of the treacherous hidden foe; 
Though the sunset's gates before them, 
And the bright stars shining o'er them, 
Were their only guides, they uttered : 
" Westward, Ho!" 

in. 

Pioneers, who fought that battle 
Never ended, till were bended 
Many forms by age and toiling, 
Or, else laid in slumber low, 
Gave a country to a nation, 
Framed our state for its high station 
By their firmness, as they answered : 
"Westward, Ho!" 

IV. 

" Westward, Ho ! " Across the ocean, 
Nothing heeding, daring, speeding, 



262 MISCELLANEOUS. 

Argonauts passed tides uncharted, 
Till they saw Multnomah flow; 
Pioneers, who knew each other, 
Tried and true, and like their brother, 
Who had made the plains reecho, 
" Westward, Ho!" 



Pioneers who won that struggle, 
Closely banded, then demanded 
Government, and noble manhood 
Answered to the call, " Divide ! " 
From the northland's snows and ices, 
To the land of balm and spices, 
Ocean, plains and golden Rockies 
Were allied. 

VI. 

Seal of sheaf and chinook salmon 
Was the token, never broken, 
Worthy seal of those who framed it, 
Sovereigns of that country wide; 
" Beaver money " was their measure, 
Sterling worth their only treasure, 
And with rifle at the call they 
Did or died. 

VII. 

When the eagle spread its pinions 

Gently over home and rover, 

In its beak it caught the emblem 

" With our own strong wings we fly." 

Freedom's children gave that token, 

Pioneers, whose hearts were oaken, 



MISCELLANEOUS. 263 

Built for time an empire money 
Could not buy. 

VIII. 

"Westward, Ho ! " Forgotten never, 
Still is gleaming, still is beaming, 
Like the star of evening, burning 
Where the golden meadows glow — 
Like an echo is our yearning 
For the loved ones unre turning, 
Calling from the unseen portals 
"Westward, Ho!" 



VALENTINE. 



A light from the sky, a joy from above, 

An angel from Heaven in the brightness of love, 

Descending to Earth, was given to me, 

To brighten our home on the wild Wanawee; 

And the wild Wanawee ripples sweeter by far, 
As it flows on its way o'er the gray sandy bar, 
For its soft music blends with a baby's wee cry, 
And the love of a mother sings sweet lullaby. 

The home which is new is a dwelling of joy, 
For I meet at the doorway my wee baby boy, 
And the cheeks which are dimpled with smiles I 

will greet 
With a father's fond kiss — a kiss that is sweet. 



264 MISCELLANEOUS. 

Byes which are blue make brighter the day, 
Clouds of dark care their light clears away; 
And the heart of a mother now throbs with 

delight 
As she sings to her babe by the fireside bright. 

The cradle is rocking, I hear the sweet sound 
Of her lullaby over a love new found; 
But no one shall claim him, he only is mine, 
To me he was given as my Valentine. 



AN ANGEL'S GLIMPSE OF EARTH. 

Once an angel in the chorus 

Of the heavenly choir, which o'er us 

Sings unto the golden beams 

Heaven's own themes, 
Wandered where Earth's coves and bowers 
Hear the anthems of the flowers 
Rippling on the air of morning 

As if streams. 

Like the songs of Heaven's rivers, 
Where each eddy curls and quivers 
Into words the mortal ear 

Can not hear, 
Flowed around her light and shadows 
Singing o'er the blossomed meadows, 
And she knew not she was lost, and 

Did not fear. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 265 

By a door she paused, to ponder 
On an anthem, sweeter, fonder, 
'Twas a mother's accents mild, 

"Sleep, my child;" 
Passing on, she heard the saying 
Of a babe, as it was praying, 
* 'Father, keep me," and she listened, 

Undefiled. 

Careless, joyous, winds and flowers 
Filled with dreams her happy hours, 
Though she understood no word 

She had heard ; 
Truly all of Earth had smiled 
On her spirit, thus beguiled ; 
Then around her flowed the carol 

Of a bird. 

'Twas a skylark, soaring, singing, 
And such melody was ringing, 
Pouring from the rapture fed 

Soul which fled, 
That the angel gazed above her, 
Fascinated, to discover 
Of the heavenly choir, what spirit 

Was overhead. 

On the wings which never tire, 
Higher flew the bird, and higher, 
Pouring forth its sweet refrain 

O'er again; 
It was calling, she was heeding, 
"They to Heaven's gates were speeding, 



266 MISCEIyI,ANEOUS. 

Carried, hurried by the transport 
Of the strain. 

And the angel in the chorus 

Of the heavenly choir, which o'er us 

Sings unto the golden streams 

Heaven's own themes, 
Knew not she was lost, nor lonely, 
When upon the Earth, for only 
Songs which make on Earth a Heavers 

Filled her dreams. 



DEEDS SUBLIME. 



Read upon the scroll of time 

Deeds sublime, 
And thou readest not of war, 
Where the blood stained mottoes are 
Needless strife — ruthless strife — 

Greed, and life for life. 

Read upon the scroll of time, 

" Life's a mime; " 
And beneath it thou wilt see 
Misery — O Misery, 
Reeking blades, and brothers slain, 
Conquest, riches, gain. 

Until selfishness shall flee 

War will be; 
Until fear and hate are cast 



MISCELLANEOUS. 267 

111 the ocean of the past, 
Until love will rule the heart, 
On the field and in the mart 
At thy calling, Misery, 
War will be. 

But, sometime the conquerer comes 
When we hear no roll of drums ; 
Then upon the scroll of time 
Are inscribed his deeds sublime- 
Love that victor bold will be — 
Love in thee. 

Then who slays will be a knave, 
Then who loves will be the brave; 
Then the heroes of to-day 

Are cast away. 
On that scroll mankind will trace 
That which never can erase, 
And the brightest word will be— 

Humanity. 



THE FISHERMAN'S LAST DRIFT, 

Feace on the ocean reigns, morning in splendor ad- 
vances, 
Veiling the hillsidse with beauty, painting the sea 
Tintings of emerald, where with a mirthfulness dances 
Offspring of billows, rollicking lithesome and free, 
Flaying like kittens, though the billows like panthers 
will be. 



268 MISCELLANEOUS. 

Only the sand dunes know of the frenzied commotion, 
Hearing the moan of the tempest, feeling its breath, 
As in its wrathfulness sweeping on over the ocean, 
Hurled it a fisherman heedlessly unto his death; 
By their lone presence he peacefully slumbereth. 

Fair was the evening, azure and crimson soft tinted 
Mingled their beauty with gray and the emerald hue, 
While the sun hiding, on the far wavelets imprinted 
Kisses which seemed as the sparklings of rosiest de.w, 
Guiding the fisherman; onward his lithe vessel flew. 

Came the shrill voicings of sea gulls, the eagle was 

wheeling, 
Circling above him ; drifted serene the sea flower ; 
Then in the heavens the star gleams their presence 

revealing, 
Cast o'er the waves which were crisping a glistening 

shower, 
Seemingly waifs, which the billows of night did devour. 

With the low splash were the sinuous lines of the netting 
Swaying in eddies, sweeping by over the bar ; 
There like a bird in its prison of wire ever fretting, 
Beat the firm boat on the waves, and the rumblings afar 
Nearer were sounding; then lost was the gleam of the 
star. 

Darkened the heavens; the fisherman heedless of danger, 
Sang the refrain of his boyhood, a song of his love: — 
Fair is the one who awaits the return of the ranger — 
See the far signal — sweet is the voice at the cove 
Bidding the wanderer never away from her rove. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 269 

But a deep wail is the echo. The storm wind is 

sweeping, 
Lashing to fury the surges. O fisherman, flee ! 
Guardian of seamen, though bold is the one in thy 

keeping, 
Vain is the might of the arm which battles the sea; 
Rolls a a huge billow — the shallop a wreck there will be. 

Brief is the struggle — the thought of the home and the 

maiden 
Waiting the hour of his coming — The surges enclose. 
Cold is the grasp, yet, the roar of their frenzy is laden 
With a strange sweetness, lulling a soul to repose. 
Paid is the debt of the dauntless — he willingly goes. 

Coldly the ospreys look down on the form that is lying 
Wrapped in the netting strown on the glistening shore; 
Wheeling, the sea gulls call to their mates near them 

flying, 
Pausing an instant to rest on a castaway oar : 
Comes the one answer — 'tis only the billows' deep roar. 



Though oft no friendly tide 
Has helped my tattered sail, 
My bark has lived to ride 
Full many a howling gale; 

Like a waif it has fled and tossed 
On the rough bars of the past, 
And stranded, yet, not lost, 
For again it dares the blast. 



270 



IN SOUTHERN I.ANDS. 



IN SOUTHERN LANDS. 
A Recollection. 

A wanderer ! How can the word 
Know else than pity or disdain ? 
Perhaps, the paths of sordid gain 
Have less of peace and gladness heard; 
Be as it may, his hour is cast 
Where flows an ever low refrain 
Which lightens trials of the past, 
And leaves the future bright though wealth 
is not amassed. 

Upon the main, the crisping main, 
Fair glides the bark before the wind, 
His childhood's home is left behind, 
And wistful glances back are vain; 
The seamen shout, " Heave G ! Belay ! " 
He sees against the skies defined 
The towering sails, and surges play 
Along the sides, and dash upon the deck in spray. 



How like a bird which sweeps the crest 
The vessel glides along serene; 
Now dipping in the changeful green, 
Soon up the rolling billows pressed ; 
She cleaves a way, though wild resounds 
The wind which bids her trembling lean, 



IN SOUTHERN LANDS. 271 

And like a deer which flees the hounds, 
She waits the tempest's roar, then o'er the tur- 
moil bounds. 

Or, if the sullen cliffs arise, 
Her fleeing billowy course to stay, 
Then, like a stag when brought to bay, 
She turns and dares the frenzied skies; 
Then vain is surge and moaning sweep, 
Brave hearts in answer strive away, 
And slowly, surely from the steep 
She moves against the tide, till safe upon the 
deep. 

The seamen's voicings ring, " Heigh O ! " 
The skies are fair, the crimson hue 
Proclaims the morrow's skies are blue, 
We safely to the haven go; 
Then like a carol in the wild 
Is singing of the gallant crew, 
For lonely moments are beguiled 
To make a lightsome heart from fairer scenes 
exiled. 

How fair, if where our feet shall stray 
Were even as a placid sea, 
The moonlight's silver path to be 
The guidance of an onward way; 
Then at the end would treasures bright 
Await the anchor 'neath the lee 
Of sheltering cliffs, where fond delight 
Swift whiled away the day and starlight made 
the night, 



272 IN SOUTHERN I.ANDS. 

How dear, if were our chosen work 
The ideal of an ardent heart, 
Then would we never from it part, 
And never would our duty shirk ; 
Then songs of gladness fill the hours, 
And winging joys around us dart, 
While starry gleams seem ocean flowers 
O'er which we fondly sail beneath love's beacon 
towers. 

Alas, for love of youth, he knows 
That life is else than boyhood's dream, 
Reality, a sterner theme, 
Upon the flood and ebbing flows ; 
The calm, the storm, the voyage far, 
And lands anew fond pleasures seem, 
Until he heard the rumbling bar 
O'er which the breakers rolled, the graceful 
craft to mar. 

The bark with swelling canvas sped 
Before the west wind's shrill refrain ; 
The seamen voice the glad acclaim, 
" The hour is well — all fair ahead I " 
But fades the light upon the shore, 
The storm wind signals o'er the main, 
And then he hears the breakers roar — 
She strikes, a wreck to be — his voyage now 
is o'er. 

No more a wanderer of the sea, 
A southern land is his retreat , 



IN SOUTHERN LANDS, 273 

The wreckage beating at his feet 
Is rifted hope, no more to be; 
Ah ! well he knew what many know, 
That treasures all too quickly flee, 
Though on life's ebbing tide will flow 
Ivike echoes from the past remembrance sweet 
and low. 

'Tis Aztec land, the land of old, 
Where years agone, in war and strife 
Its people sought a fairer life, 
And found it on the crimson mold ; 
Loud rang the shouts, the drum and shell 
Proclaimed the priest's too ruthless knife 
Would still the throbbing heart, and well 
The heedless priest subdued the slave's expiring 
yell. 

Stern conquest brought invader's ill, 
Subjection molded slavery's chain, 
A restless people strove in vain; 
Then yielded to a mightier will. 
There now the home of whitened clay 
Dots nestling dell and sloping hill, 
Where massive halls have passed away, 
Though fading ruins tell of lords and kingly sway 

The sea of Cortez gleams afar, 

The winds and waves are there asleep, 

Within the placid bosom deep 

Is nestling many a dainty star; 

The fisher waits the friendly tide 



2 74 IN SOUTHERN I.ANDS. 

To seek the drops the skies may weep, 
Then from the fragile shallop's side 
He boldly plunges down, with fortune for his 
guide. 

The pearls he finds are not his prize, 
His hapless life is quickly passed ; 
For him his wealth is not amassed, 
At other doors his treasure lies : 
The virgin's love is dearly bought 
With pearls so pure, so blindly cast — 
How may his life be else than naught, 
Though Guadaloupe's shrine each day is lovelier 
wrought. 

Ah, simple slave ! yet, not alone 
Thy shallop longs for Freedom's sea, 
Away, away to quickly flee 
The hovel, mansion and the home; 
But rumbles deep the sullen bar, 
And tempest bound we all shall be , 
For though, may gleam a guiding star, 
It rarely comes anear — if near, it seems afar. 

O wanderer, can you deny 
The debt the guileless one shall pay ? 
For when will set his mortal day 
He hopes his pearls a goal may buy; 
The rich, the proud, alike him bend 
Unto that hope, a ransomed way, 
But vain — the paths mankind shall wend 
A sacrifice may light, but purchase ne'er defend. 



IN SOUTHERN LANDS. 275 

The placid sea is left, and near 
Bleak cliffs supporting fairer skies, 
Above the haze they grandly rise, 
O'erclad with summer's robing sere; 
The sea bird slowly by them glides, 
From ledges come the eagle's cries, 
While sullenly the ceaseless tides 
Sweep through the two fold pass the riven wall 
divides. 

The castle frowning from the rock 
Looks on the bay and olden town ; 
The sleeping hills cast glances down, 
As if they would its prowess mock. 
The crumbling walls, the mold, decay, 
No story tell of once renown, 
Nor murmur of the brigand's sway 
Comes from the glistening sand o'er which the 
wavelets play. 

The olden chimes sweet vespers ring, 
The twilight tells the hour of rest, 
The village in its mountain nest 
Awaits repose the vespers bring ; 
Repose, for San Diego stern 
Is sleeping, in soft ruin dressed, 
Though may remembrance often turn 
Its rusted guns asea, a foe there to discern. 

Then as the joj^ous matin lay 

Of song birds wakens from the hedge, 

The wanderer surmounts the ledge, 



276 IN SOUTHERN LANDS, 

It is the olden mountain way; 
The burro's slowly winding line 
Is seen upon the slope, and edge 
Of gloomy cliffs, where oak and vine 
With scanty shade o'erdot the grayish, steep 
decline. 

Unto the youth the hour is sweet — 
Is loneliness awaiting ill? 
The murmurs of the dainty rill 
Are dearer than the tramp of feet; 
The flowers nestling 'neath the leaves, 
And mocking bird'e o'erjoyous trill, 
Are dainty, ever waiting thieves, 
That steal the hour of toil o'er which the passer 
grieves. 

O stately crags and mountains old ! 
O ridges dun and ledges drear ! 
How oft the tramp of feet anear 
My steps didst sound adventure bold ; 
Thy lonely ventas, quaintly rude, 
Have heard the throb of hope and fear, 
As throngs with varied zeal imbued, 
Toiled o'er thy winding paths where now is 
solitude. 



The hills are passed, the pathway lies 
By dells of teeming verdure wild, 
Where rivers flowing, limpid, mild, 
Are ever babbling their replies 
Unto the music of the trees, 



IN SOUTHERN LANDS. 277 

Where strays the deer by thirst beguiled ; 
That stays to sniff the morning breeze, 
And drink a welcome, ere it seeks untrodden leas. 

The deep barranca's misty bed 
Fades in the deepening azure hue; 
The sleepy blossoms, white and blue, 
Have of the tinted dew drops fed ; 
They rouse, and feel the rosy kiss 
Of day, which bids life wake anew 
Among the throngs — where angry hiss 
May tell that even here is not an endless bliss. 

The low veranda's cosy way, 
And yellow fields are not forgot; 
A welcome at each door is bought 
Without a price — the answer, — Nay! 
Is spoken not where want is known, 
And avarice remains untaught; 
Perhaps, with penury is sown 
The seeds of kindly help which will for much 
atone. 

Beyond a waste the Brigand's home 
Appears beneath the walls of green ; 
Famed Cortez sought an hour serene 
By yon aspiring mountain dome; 
Its nestling dell fair nature's charm 
Knrobes with summer's dainty sheen, 
Which lulled the ever restless storm 
Within a breast that knew alone a nation's harm. 

Can passion seek an hour's repose, 



278 IN SOUTHKRN LANDS. 

If thrilled with' hope of mighty deeds? 
Perhaps, the flame on which it feeds 
In some retreat more brightly glows; 
The quiet ways his footsteps heard — 
How oft design that quiet breeds, 
With the one impulse of a word 
To roll a mighty wave until a land is stirred. 

The youth beholds the bloom and vine, 
And clustering lillies 'neath the fern, 
While oleanders seem to burn 
Upon the tinted hill's decline; 
Forget-me-nots, so dainty bright, 
On violets their glances turn, 
And blush camelias, to invite 
The passing one to gaze upon their peerless light. 

The glittering spires, the costly shrines 
Breed quietude from dreaming day; 
Fair gaudy senoritas stray 
The cool retreats of trellised vines, 
And mirth is theirs, save, as the hour 
The chiming bells will echo — stay — 
The voicings from the olden tower 
Are gently to thee calling — bow to mightier 
power. 

The youth strays o'er the mountain side, 

And looks below upon the dale 

So lovely in its leafy veil, 

The angel's kiss must there abide; 

His being longs for else, for more 



IN SOUTHERN LANDS. 279 

« 

Than welcome of the shrieking gale, 
Or theme of some forgotten lore — 
Vain longing, though he would that fairy scene 
adore. 

O ardent soul, not satisfied ! 
Why wilt thou ever seek to know ? 
Within this quietude will flow 
Fond rivers, where the heart will glide 
'Neath love's sweet bowers at the morn; 
And noonday sees thy shallop go 
Where dulcets every hour adorn, 
While twilight o'er thy way ne'er whispers — 
waif forlorn. 



No wonder that a ruthless hand 
Would seek to grasp a paradise; 
Fair people in a heartless vise, 
Know not the beauty of their land; 
Like flowers wild, so frail and sweet, 
They pay the debt of beauty's price, 
And muse or sleep in their, retreat, 
And breathe the odorous flowers waving at their 
feet. 

Is it a dream — a happy dream ? 
Can he with candor say — 'tis naught? 
A higher life is dearly bought 
If things are ever as they seem; 
Perhaps, they reach as fair an end 
As those by nobler motives taught ; 
If so, 'tis well the paths to wend 



28o IN SOUTHERN I^ANDS. 



Where fancy guides the steps, and nature's 
sweets attend. 

Away, away, the pink, the rose, 
And larkspur gleams are left behind ; 
He will the zigzag pathway wind 
Which leads unto eternal snows ; 
The mouldering cross is oft espied 
Which moss clad stones did rudely bind, 
There placed, ere peons bowed beside 
The resting place of one who guiltlessly had died, 

O stranger in the mountain wild ! 
Is thine a mausoleum's roof? 
Beneath fair nature's golden woof 
Thou art forgotten now — a child 
Of southern lands may trembling see 
Thy lonely mound, and pause aloof, 
Ere he a worshiper shall be 
Before an awful shrine which bids him onward 
flee. 

No vested choir, no priestly tongue, 
Proclaimed for thee a diadem, 
Yet, nature's lips a requiem 
Has ever in sweet rhythm sung; 
Fair blossoms purple on thy tomb, 
Mosslillies weave its dainty hem, 
While weeping trees above thee bloom, 
And sweetest incense breathe at evening, morn 
and noon. 

Can censer's fume, or solemn chant, 



IN SOUTHERN LANDS. 28 1 

Bestow on man else than is thine? 
The anthems wane about the shrine — 
Soon chill the hearts of adamant ; 
But, here, forgotten in thy grave 
Beneath the clustering flower and vine, 
For thee will censers ever wave, 
And anthems voice a love mankind man never 
gave. 

The youth his onward way pursues 
Through sterile tracts, by pleasant scenes; 
Fair nature ever haply screens 
Her children from the phantom hues 
Which linger but to lure them on ; 
Within each seeming desert gleans 
The toiler for a pittance wan, 
And seeks no further go when his brief store 
is gone. 

He knows not of the grand display, 
His hardy hands may welcome toil, 
Although, perhaps, to simply oil 
The gilded wheels of happier day. 
How many labor for that end, 
How few by wealth their garments soil ; 
Ah, craven ones ! why lowly bend 
Unto the yoke which deigns a pittance thus 
to lend. 

Beyond, the snow capped peaks arise, 
The bluish hills, the prairies dun 
Stretch far away, where lost and won 



282 IN SOUTHERN I.ANDS. 

Was freedom in a strange disguise; 
Dark shadowy gorges seem to sleep 
Beneath mist woven veils, and shun 
The glistening lakes and meads, that keep 
The treasures of a land where toiling is to reap. 

O man, how lowly is thy aim, 
When nature bountiful is there; 
Alone by toil, privation, care, 
Are we to higher end attain ; 
Here is the morning hour of spring, 
Then summer's noonday ripening glare, 
Yet, rosy fall her sheaves will bring 
Hre springtime's matin lay has scarcely ceased 
to ring. 

As from the height he comes adown , 
Is freedom in a sullen cloud? 
Man robed with superstition's shroud, 
Bach hill he climbs is but a mound ; 
The wayside alter leads the blind — 
A night — a starless night endowed 
To light the steps of lorn mankind ; 
Vain trembling steps are his with longing looks 
behind. 

The scene is changed ; the squallor, want, 

Flee from the equipages gay; 

Adieus the callaberos say, 

And dash to gracious Penon's haunt; 

The wanderer would there abide, 

For voices ring, — Away, away, 



IN SOUTHERN I.ANDS. 283 

Dull thought of care; let beauty, pride, 
Usurp a sunny hour the famed passeo wide. 

A bust of man is then his shade, 
A grateful rest 'neath fairer light; 
The wanderer in a world of night 
Looks up, his thoughts almost persuade 
That heroes known alone are true; 
A fleeting thought — who dies for right 
As nobly strives as others do, 
Though graves o'ercover many, pedestals 
only few. 

The glorietta's silken lawn, 
The plots with dainty flowers spread, 
And paths where merry pastime led, 
Soon bring anew the scenes agone; 
The bright rebosa scarce conceals 
Gazelle like eyes, though oft, instead 
The dark mantilla well reveals 
The queenly form of one who with vendetta deals. 

They lightly pass, the children play, 
Serapes wave, and passing fair 
Is rippling on the evening air 
Along the alameda's way; 
The silvery founts, and woven fanes 
Of merry shade, and lantern glare, 
Proclaim that pleasure's votive trains 
The blossomed windings trail to bands inspiring 
strains. 

A charming surface gilded sweet, 



IN SOUTHERN LANDS, 

The airs of fond contentment glide 
Upon the careless, aimless tide, 
Which loiters with the dainty feet; 
The music's breathings softly flow 
On levity and conscious pride, 
Yet, deign to cheer the waiting low, 
Whose souls in darker ways with music still 
will glow. 

Is life a dream ? If so, 'tis well 
To step to music's charming time; 
For us the bells will often chime, 
But only once will sound a knell; 
Forsooth, the lingering youth would be 
No hero who would summits climb, 
But needs must bid his longings flee, 
The wide passeo stray a wanderer for 'ee. 

Within the past he will retrace 
The 3^ears, when night in starless gloom 
Proclaimed the Inquisition's doom, 
And safety through its priestly grace; 
The heedless rack, the cruel stone, 
Beneath the alameda's bloom, 
Oft heard the faint expiring moan. 
Commingled with the thrust a murderer's arm 
must own. 

Wan piety, thy garb of guilt, 
If gilded with illusion's zeal, 
Must canker, ere it will reveal 
The knife within the jewelled hilt; 



IN SOUTHERN I.ANDS. 285 

Fair gems, sweet purity's disguise, 
May sparkle at the organ's peal, 
And candles flicker soft replies 
Unto the longing one who by the alter sighs. 

But vain, if ever vain the hour, 
Is piety with jewels decked ; 
A costly shrine a soul has wrecked 
More oft than nature's lonely bower. 
He hears the organ's deepening mourn, 
The solemn nocturns must protect 
A stranger in another bourne 
Than his, whose peaceful rest is by the 
wayside lorn. 

The gray cathedral's massive heap 
Uprears beneath the starry gleams; 
The trees which hide the timid beams 
Seem midnight's silent bulwarks steep, 
Where time's deep eddies roll, and wear 
The caverns of forgotten themes, 
In which the wanderer would repair, 
And dwell with other scenes than lurk round 
Plaza Mayor. 

Yet, he restrays the plaza still, 
As morning glints upon the spire, 
A summer day's awakened fire 
Relights the purple on the hill ; 
The mignonettes and panzies wake, 
And peep from fern and trellised brier, 
And dahlias dainty sweets partake 



286 IN SOUTHERN I.ANDS. 

From flowering cups of gold beside the shimmer- 
ing lake. 

The workings of a former race, 
Rechiselled by the hand of years 
In lasting rtrin, much endears 
His being to a lonely place; 
'Tis there, where joyous praises rose 
To gentle springtime's ripening ears, 
He sees in simple, wordless prose 
The poetry of life alone death can compose. 

The bards have sung, their music died 
Upon the breath that chilled their lips ; 
The sculptor's rough, discarded chips 
Are mouldering with his cherished pride; 
All gone, alone the hedge clad mound 
A moment stays, yet, nature strips 
From it the glories once around, 
And leaves a monument in mystic gloom 
profound* 

But man pursues a restless way, 
And thinks he sees the gates ajar, 
Through which from sunny lands afar 
Is beaming oft a welcome ray; 
On fallen shrines new alters rise, 
Can they the hidden paths unbar ? 
Ah nay, on Earth the treasure lies, 
And vain are sacred heights, and temples near 
the skies. 

He sees a gray stone church in sleep, 



IN SOUTHERN LANDS. 287 

Enrobed in cacti's shimmering green; 
Of ancient grace it now may dream, 
And wake, the evening hour to keep; 
Alike the mound, the years of storm 
Its glories all away may wean, 
Still, hovers near the dingy form 
An air of sanctity which yet may ill disarm. 

The broken waters, solemn spires, 
And snow clad peaks beyond the blue 
Far ridges glimmer in the hue 
Of sunset's slowly dying fires ; 
The winds which waft the coming night 
Bear gentle tones that say, — Adieu, 
O stranger, let a rapid flight 
On time's unceasing wing restore our golden 
light. 

O golden hour of evening's dream, 
If evening comes so tranquil, pure, 
The longing traveler to illure 
Beyond, where night serene will seem ; 
The morn awakes in soft disguise, 
That will in noonday's glow mature, 
But sunset glints the darkening skies, 
And whispers, — Twilight's pall will close thy 
weary eyes. 

Then present and the past are one, 
Yet, should the skies prismatic glow, 
Upon the soul will gently flow 
The scenes of happy times agone; 



288 IN SOUTHERN" I.ANDS. 

A mirror is the Hearing haze r 
Reflecting what the soul would know, 
And golden are the setting rays 
Which fall beside the one who gladly onward 
strays. 

The evening seems the hour ideal, 
As fades the sunset's scarlet hue, 
And orange deepens into blue 
O'er purple clouds, which scarce conceal 
The splendor of day's ebbing tide; 
The stars with gentle light renew 
A vigil, as the sunbeams hide, 
And night with silent sway usurps the prairie 
wide 

But, ere the somber shadows fall, 
And night enrobes the cacti plain, 
He hears the low melodious strain 
As bells proclaim the vesper call ; 
The church, awakened, seems to share 
The worship — is the worship vain ? 
Come, lowly one o'erbowed with care, 
Let peace be in thy soul with silent , thoughtful 
prayer. 

He views a mound where alter's blaze 
Waned in unnumbered years agone; 
Alone the fingers of the dawn 
The debt of virgin priestess pays, 
And feels no ill of quenching dark, 
When flashed the sacred flame anon 



IN SOUTHERN I.A.NDS, 289 

Upon the mountain, and a spark 
Struck on a human breast gave life a cycle mark. 

The plains to nearing mountains rise, 
And passed upon the sterile way 
Are haciendas old and gray, 
Beneath the tangled vinings guise; 
There oft the hamlet's cosy rest 
Requests the wanderer's steps to stay, 
While gay macaws with zeal repressed 
Askance did gaze at him from out their prison 
nest. 



A gracious spot is this, and fair 
Are lands where oleanders bloom ; 
Sweet flowers w T ild the roofs illume, 
With colors which gardenias share; 
The jasmine climbing to the eaves, 
And woodbine, lend a soft perfume 
To drooping yellow cactus leaves 
Beneath a towering elm which pleasant shading 
weaves. 



And there the dingy church and cross 
Retell the tale of conquest bold, 
The ruthless search for fame and gold 
Left it alone amid the dross-; 
No virgin's flower did there inspire, 
Nor angel's choir its glories told, 
But, well as those in fair attire, 
It pays a paltry debt — a living to its friar. 



290 IN SOUTHERN LANDS. 

Grand Orizaba lifts its snows 
High o'er the mountains of the plain ; 
It looks upon the eastern main, 
And sees where calm Pacific flows; 
The sunset molds its golden crown, 
And morning's softness, not in vain 
Will weave a halo o'er its frown. 
As robed in white and gold, scornful, it gazes 
down. 

A silent alter, smokeless now, 
Its lone companion waits the night; 
Unlike the mounds of human might, 
Are fires upon the hoary brow, 
And as the hills anear it rise, 
The youth beholds the crimson light, 
Which wanes in evening's purple guise, 
And lights the twinkling lamps, the cross 
within the skies. 

The youth must leave the oak and pine, 
And stately cliffs for other scenes; 
Though grandeur fills his morning dreams, 
Is sweet the fragrance of the vine; 
But, comes anear the sights of yore, 
Again he looks, and sadly deems 
That rugged heights alone restore 
The air of freedom borne to some defiling shore. 

In wanton beauty's dress are hills, 

In mazy robings festive bright, 

Are dales where dwell the wreaths of night, 



IN SOUTHERN LANDS. 29 1 

And lulling balm for waiting ills; 
The red hibiscus, orchids rare, 
Commingled with the parasite, 
May be the red varuna's lair, 
And vinings climbing high must nobler life 
ensnare. 

He strays the windings of a town, 
Where trees arrayed in scarlet bloom 
Appeared to burn, but not consume 
The verdure on the sloping down; 
The senoritas, artless, fair, 
Coquettish born, with glance illume 
A slumbering spark — O youth, beware! 
Pay thy respects unto the rosary vendor there. 

Perhaps, she had the merry grace 
Which thrilled the heart of youth forlorn—- 
He could not dare her plea to scorn, 
Although anear a pretty face; 
O traveler, the lovely rose 
Will fade, and leave alone a thorn — 
'Tis prude indeed the eyes to close, 
When light of sunny flowers about our pathway 
glows. 

So lulling is the odorous calm, 
The youth would stay a fleeting hour 
Where butterflies, a gaudy shower, 
O'erdotted drooping fern and palm; 
And then, by fields of blosmy white, 
Oft near a quaintly, olden tower, 



292 IN SOUTHERN UNDS. 

He passed, till with the gloaming light 
The fireflies changed the scene to mazy tintings\ 
bright. 

The dawn the saffron hue restores 
To sloping walls, perchance, a roof 
Beneath its moss enameled woof 
Is seen through branching sycamores; 
O'erpendant is the yellow bell, 
Vanilla blooms are less aloof, 
While merry hues on ridge and dell 
Do with each other vie in sweetness to excel. 



But beauty is a phantom train, 
Which flees before the moments real ; 
The longing for a spot ideal 
Must ask us ever seek in vain; 
Though beauty asks us stay awhile, 
And pleasure calls, yet, ever fain 
Are we to stray another mile, 
Until in pathways bleak we find no waiting 
smile. 



And thus, the roaming one would leave 
A paradise, before would be 
Within his heart satiety, 
Which must a lasting dolor weave; 
He thought, if Heaven were endless bliss, 
Where any joy would never flee, 
No cherished hope, no phantom kiss, 
Would lure him ever on, and life would be remiss. 



IN SOUTHERN LANDS. 293 

And though, perhaps; unwilling loss 
Are charms of woodland, dale and steep, 
The rumbling of the nearing deep 
Proclaims the City of the Cross; 
He sees the minarets arise, 
But, dearer far, the surges leap, 
And longs again for darkened skies, 
The deeply plunging craft, the petrel's warning 
cries. 



THE STRIFE OF LIFE. 

I tread the sands where ocean moans its sway, 
Where rage the wars of wind and cliff and tide, 
And every creature there, is there so slay, 
And might alone the triumph can decide. 

The beauty nature gives is ever naught, 
And gentlenees is vain, it means a prize; 
And oft the victor by the waves is caught, 
And shifting sand upon a myriad lies. 

Like them, we strive, then drift into a sea, 
For we are mites upon the shore of time; 
Though nature speaks that right their ways 

may be, 
It tells that man has many heights to climb. 



294 SONG OF THE SOU!,. 



SONG OF THE SOUL. 



Around me a light burned softly, 
A lute string quivered, and I heard 
The weird, sad music of my soul, 
The sweet, wild music of my soul, 
Chanting — O being, the beautiful, 
Unto thee, I sing a new song. 

Ah, my soul chanted the song of the forest, 
The songs of the evening and the morning, 
The murmur of brooklets, the rage of the ocean; 
Eager, I followed — followed the ripple, the 

murmur, 
The deep notes of the ocean sounding accordant, 
But my words were as sands of the sea shore 
Far away drifting — dying away — 
Blown in the sea of oblivion. 

Then the light burned brightly, the lute string 

quivered, 
And I heard the strange wild music of a deep, 
Strains like the sands wafted on a summer wind, 
By my hands imprisoned — sifting, ere they are 

gone — 
Ere they are gone — blown in the sea of oblivion, 
There with my soul to awaken — chanting anew. 



SONG OF THE SOUI,. 295 

Brighter the light burned around me, 

The lute string played a glad orison, 

Ecstacy compassed my soul ; 

Voices of Aidenn, dying not, chanted around me, 

"Listen, O being, sing a new song of thine own." 

II. 

Like the blast of a furnace, sweeping, sweeping, 

Over an ocean — the wave All Existent, 

Came a strange light, and its being, 

Soul of my soul, 

Glowed in the fire on the waters. 

The great waves rolled, and the darkness 
Fled from the glow of the brightness, 
And the waters were peopled with spirits, 
And I was a spirit among them. 

I was a part of the one All Existent, 

I was a drop of the ocean, a wave which was 

burning, 
Chanting the glory around it; 
With the myriad echoes which rolled sang my 

spirit, 
With the rise of the billowy splendor, a voicing 
Came unto me — sweetly came unto me, 
"Flame of my flame — soul of my soul, 
I am the Father — thou the creator, — 
Speed on thy portion." 

Changed the sweet voicing — sternly it uttered, 
' 'I am the Father — thou the creator, 
Toil in thy portion; 



296 SONG OF THE SOUL. 

Unto thee, the ages are as nothing, 

Unto thee, time is a birthright;* 

Darest thou be a brand of the burning ? 

A light in the darkness? a hope of the morrow? 

Child of my being, darest thou ? darest thou ? 

Like the roar of an ocean of thunders. 

Like the wrath of a sun burst asunder, 

Rolling away — surging forever r 

Beat the stern voice on my soul ; 

* 'Darest thou be a part of my being ? 

Soul of my soul, spark of my lighting, 

Wilt thou awaken, undying? " 

The glory of living was on me, 

The triumph of life was before me, 

And I sang with the myriads, ''Thou, my Creator, 

I am a part of thy Being.' y 

But the voice of the splendor uttered, 
'Thou art creator, darest thou build thy dominion ? y 
And I sang with the myriads, — ' 'I, the creator, 
Build my dominion — build thy dominion eternal/ 

Like the roar of an ocean of thunders, 

Like the wrath of a sun burst asunder, 

Uttered the voice of the splendor, 

"Toil ye ! toil ye I Ye are the rocks and the waters, 

Ye are the firmament;" 

Then the voicing was stilled, and the brightness 

Fled away, and my glory had left me, 

For time was an ocean around me, 

And I was a waif on its bosom. 



SONG OF THE SOUL. 297 

III. 
Soul of the rocks and the waters, sing the 

creation, 
Sing of the battles of Titans, the warfare of 

whirlwinds; 
"When the mountain awakened, I was within it, 
When the glacier clove the dead forest, 
There I was toiling. 
Gold was my body when the mad fire burst 

upward, 
In the deep sea in coral I toiled for ages; 
I was the air in the tropics, I fed the flowers, 
I was the breath of the northland bridging the 

oceans. 
In the blue deep I placed the starlight, 
When the fair Earth rolled on its axis, 
I worked the lever. "Soul of my soul," 
Spake the Father, — "Thou the creator, 
Toil in thy portion." 

Pondering, I uttered : "Couldst thou, my spirit, 

Turn the great world on its axis ? Couldst thy 
own being 

Light the bright stars of the heavens ? 

Only the One All Existent, He the Almighty, 

Lighted the stars in the heavens." 

Answered my spirit : "I am the fire ever glowing, 

I am the flush of the morning, the tint of the 
sunset; 

I and the myriads lit by that ocean of splendor 

Are the Creator — God is the sum of our beings; 

He is the rock and the waters, He is the firm- 
ament, 



298 SONG OF THE SOUI,. 

We are His offspring building a kingdom eternal." 

Pondering, I uttered : "Art thou, my spirit, 
In the low vulture reeking with carrion? Art 

thou 
In the vile snake of the meadow, the sinuous 

serpent 
Seeking its prey in the jungle? " 
Answered my spirit : "• I am the wrath of the 

serpent — 
The far sighted vulture — I am the prey they are 

seeking; 
On my own flesh I will live, and my spirit, 

undying, 
Dwells in the clod of the Earth, and snake of 

the jungle. 
I am the light on the water forming the swim- 
mers, 
I am the breath of the air bearing the songsters; 
I am the grass, and the flesh, — I tear, and my 

triumph 
Rings o'er my body when rended." 

IV. 

I heard a low vibration, like the breath of the 

night wind 
Drifting from caverns of darkness, sighing around 

me, 
Strains of the ages when the divine in the human 
Was the divine in the beast, and the slime on the 

waters. 

" I was the club of the man smiting the lion, 



SONG OF THE SOUI,. 299 

I was the arm of the man rending the human; 
I was his passion, and man in his fear was my 

spirit 
Gazing afar out of his cavern of darkness." 



" I heard the roll of the thunders, 

The flash of the lightnings did blind me, 

And the voice of the thunderings uttered, — 

I am the Father — thou the creator — 

Toil in thy portion; 

Barest thou be a brand of the burning ? 

A hope of the morrow ? Wouldst thou awaken 

undying? 
Child of my being, darest thou ? darest thou ? 



> ? 



" Then I fled to the caves for a shelter, 
And I gazed on the glare of the lightnings; 
Yet, the words I had heard were before me, 
And the burden of living was on me," 

%i I heard the roll of the thunders, 

With the flash of the lightnings I trembled, 

And a voice in the thunderings uttered : — 

Soul of my soul — spark of my being — 

Darest thou build thy dominion ? 

With trembling, I answered : — Creator, 

Build unto me thy dominion." 

" But the voice in the thunderings uttered :- 
Darest thou build thy dominion ? 
And trembling, I answered : — Creator, 
Build unto me my dominion. " 



300 SONG OF THE SOUI,. 

" With the flash of the lightnings, my spirit 
Fled in the caves of the darkness, 
For the voice in the thunderings uttered : — 
Build thy dominion eternal." 

v. 

A light burned brightly, the lute string quivered, 
And I heard the strange, sad music of my soul, 
Strains like the sighs wafted on the forest air, 
Chanting unceasing, " Woe unto man — unto man, 
He the creator, builds on the bones of his 
brothers." 

With the crashing of shells, rolling, rolling, 
Over the field, the battlefield crimson, 
With the booming of guns — shriekings, moanings, 
Blended with groans of the dying, the madness, 
Chanted my soul of its toiling, the burden 

upon it, 
Building its kingdom eternal. 

" I am the ego awoke from its slumber, 

I am a room in the house All Existent; 

I was a spark from the burning, upward arising — 

I am a brand of the fire, feeding its anger." 

Pondering, I uttered : "Art thou, my spirit, 

In the deep roll of the gun, the red of the sabre ? " 

Answered my soul : "I was the wrath of the 

whirlwind 
Forming the meadows for flowers; 
I was the madness of billows grinding the cliffside 



SONG OF THE SOUIv. 301 

Molding the sands for production; 

I was the beast building the life of the homo — 

Man is a corner stone in rny own house All 

Existent. " 

" Toil thou, toil thou, creator, sustainer, 
Cleave thy own path through the darkness ; 
Strive thou, strive thou— only the rage of the 

battle 
Chisels the rock for the builder. 
Man is my corner stone — only alone his subduing 
Places it in the foundation. 

VI. 

Unto the new life awaiting, sing O my spirit, 
The anthems of Aidenn sound on the portals; 
Let the dark dwelling throw open its shutters, 
Let the fair morning arising in beauty 
Glow in the windows. 

" My soul in the rock molded its firmness, 

And my soul in the human builded his grandeur; 

I softened the heart of the woman, soothing to 

slumber 
Blood of the lion within her — on her fierce 

husband 
I placed the shackles. 

I am the Red Cross caring for wounded in battle, 
I am the mother weeping for loss of her offspring; 
I broke the bonds of the slaves — now I am 

breaking 
Laws of the tyrants, that all men, as equal 



302 SONG OF THK SOUI,. 

Stand on the threshold." 

"Sink to thy level, O man born of a woman, 
Woman, thy equal, rises and builds my foundation; 
Come, O ye anthems of Aidenn, beat on her 

bosom, 
Chant the glad hour she awakens, lulling the 

battle." 

"Wake, O ye toilers ! Toil, O ye brainy men ! 

Delve in the mysteries, O thou mighty one ! 

I am the sinue, the strong arm — the fuel 

Feeding the mind of the searcher; 

I am the engines rotating, the swift vessels gliding, 

I, the inventor, form with my handiwork, 

Solving the problem before me." 

" Let the whole Earth toil for my glory, 
I will replenish it; 
Let the whole universe awaken, 
And chant of my beauty and grandeur. 
Soul of my soul, thou, the great universe, 
Whole of my being — sing of my greatness ! 
I will arise to the Highest — I am the Highest, 
Earth is my home, and Aidenn my dwelling 
place." 

VII. 

Sing, O my soul, builded thou Aidenn the blessed? 
Answered my spirit : " Man is in Aidenn 
Compared with the beast of the forest, 
They who have risen, in man can behold only 
darkness; 



SONG OF THE SOUI,. 303 

Aidenn was ever, forever, 

Darkness and turmoil existed ever, forever; 

There is no past and no future — only the present, 

What is to-day, unbegun, is alway — eternal; 

1 am now building my Heaven — it is awaiting, 

When I can see and behold it." 

Pondering, I questioned : "Is there not one, 

the Almighty, 
Guiding thee unto its portals ? ' * 
Answered my spirit, " Love is that One, the 

Almighty, 
Love in my being guides me unto my kingdom — 
Love is my kingdom, we are the sum of creation — 
Love is my Heaven eternal." 

" There was a parting of ways at the birth of 

the homo, 
There is a parting of ways when man, the 

immortal, 
Questions the problems before him; 
Man is the link which is binding immortal and 

mortal, 
Death is the chrysalis, life is its rifting — 
Aidenn the chrysalid colors robing the body 

immortal." 

VIII. 

Brightly a light burned around me, 
The lute string played a glad orison, 
Kcstacy compassed my soul ; 
And I sang in the joy of my being, 
For the glory of Aidenn was on me. 



304 SONG OF THE SOUL. 

Like the song of the beams of the mornings 
Which burst through the night, came a voicing,, 
"Come unto me — unto me, 
Flame of my flame, ever, forever 
Thou art released from thy sorrow.' " 

Like an anthem borne on the zephyr 
From clouds tinged with the sunset, 
Came unto me — unto me, 
. *' Well hast thou toiled in thy portion, 
Well hast thou battled in darkness, 
Peace, thy reward, is upon thee — 
Life never ending before thee." 

Then my soul sang with the splendor, 
" I am a room in the dwelling eternal, 
I, the individual, drink of the brightness; 
Let the proud world gaze on my grandeur ! 
Let the great sun behold me in my dominion ! 
Wake, O thou universe ! Sing to my glory ! 
Rise, O my spirit, chant a glad praise to thine 
own ! " 



Man wars with man, then fearful, presses suit 

For peace with God when yawns death's cavern near; 

He heard the plea of man with ears too mute, 

And judged, awaits the judgment bowed with fear. 

Make peace with Bartli, help man to be at peace, 

And bid thy fear of future judgment cease. 



WII^AMETTE. 3°5 

WILLAMETTE* 

Bright with the ripple of its morning smiles, 

Fresh from eternal snows, Willamette winds 

In joyous song among the wooded hills 

And verdant dales, and meets Columbia's 

Fair wave. Where the white mountains gaze upon 

Its merging tide, a vernal beauty frames 

A picture in the mind ; The slopes and isles, 

The blended shade of foliage, and the sheen 

Of waters singing to eternal spring, 

Grant the sweet charm which nature here has formed 

For all. 

Where the mad foamings plunge 
And roll away, the grandeur of the West 
Is seen, and where the wave sweeps pebbly bars. 
Or glides the sylvan wild, there beauty dwells, 
And nature sits upon a queenly throne. 
Where roamed the Indian now are cities fair, 
And bridges span, where once the light canoe 
Upon its waters sped from shore to shore; 
Yet, marred not, still it moves a path serene, 
Lit by the mirrored stars. 

The Indian 
Has gone, and in his place the white man stands; 
Yet, when an empire falls, and desert wastes 
Will pave the banks where pleasure's votive train 
In song and mirth now pass a holiday, 
A crystal tide will wander to the deep, 
Fit emblem of eternity. I watch 
It glide away. How like myself it finds 



,o6 GENNESARET. 

A bitter sea; yet, waters full as sweet 
Replenish its pure depths, and other life 
Will fill my vacant place. Thus is its wave 
A symbol of our lives, to pass an hour 
By flowery shade, and sing that hour away, 
Or like its rapids, plunge and swirl and rage, 
Then hide forever in a moaning sea. 

The great ships come an go, and usefulness 

Is greater worth than beauty, and the lights 

Within ite depths shall fade in furnace blasts, 

The city lamps will be its stars, the smoke 

Of factories the clouds which hide its skies, 

And whirring wheels will bid its voice be still. 

When this is done, man on the hills will stand, 

And gaze upon the stately spires and towers, 

The vernal meadows and the mountains grand, 

And winding gorges by the ages shaped 

In chiselled beauty, and will say, — Thou art 

Willamette, loveliest river of the West, 

Bright with the wealth of commerce, and the worth 

Which bids great cities cluster on thy shores. 



GENNBSARKT. 



Where plenty crowned the hills of Galilee, 
A desert waste bids man each joy forget; 
The glory of its cities and its sea 
Lies in the tombs beside Gennesaret. 



OENNESARET. 307 

The black cliffs rise on which the moonlight gleams, 
The blue wave rolls in which the starlight burns; 
Like days of yore, still flow the rippling streams, 
Vet, from the past no echo sweet returns. 

Drear is the land in which the Saviour toiled, 
His curse was spoken and the cities fell ; 
The wave which from His firm command recoiled, 
Forever sounds Upon the shores a knell. 

The scattered palms and clustered lotus trees 

Dwell with the giant thistle and the thorn, 

And oleanders waving in the breeze, 

Clothe the bleak rocks and fringe the slopes forlorn. 

The Roman pomp has faded to a dream, 
The baths and halls have desolation met, 
And unto us remains alone a theme — 
The Saviour's teachings at Gennesaret. 



'&* 



Like waves which ever beat upon the rock, 
His words seek entrance in the heart of stone; 
Unlike the waves, in vain dark cliffs can mock, 
His truths will roll, till love rules man alone. 



Stand firm for truth, be like the cliffside strong, 
When fallacies like surges fiercely beat; 
Yet, if thou learnest that thy stand is wrong, 
Fear not to yield, with honor is retreat: 
Thy own retreat is battle won for thee, 
If truth be marching on to victory. 



308 THE TRIUMPH OF I,IFK- 



THE TRIUMPH OF LIFE. 

The forest sang to my soul 

As amid its fair beauty I rested, 

And the stars sang to my spirit, 

As upward I looked and beheld them; 

For my couch was the sward, and my pillow 
The evergreen moss, and the tree tops 
Were windows above me, where stargl earns 
Gazed downw r ard and sang with the night wind. 

As the song from the swaying tree windows 
Floated o'er me, my spirit illumined, 
Was filled with the glory of living, 
And I sang with that chorus eternal. 

" Hail thee, dwellers of the round Earth ! 
Hail thee, creatures on the stars ! 
Hail thee, inhabitants of the universe ! 
Let the great worlds sing of thy glory." 

' ' Let the bright suns whose light the Earth has 

not seen, 
The great worlds, numberless, in space never 

ended, 
Sing a glad song in their pathways; 
The glory of being is on them, 



THE TRIUMPH OF LIFE. 309 

The triumph of life is within them; 
Let the universe praise the creation." 

" Question, O men, the wonder of the bright sun, 
Can ye decipher the problem ? 
The glow in the eyes of the insect, 
The beat of the heart of the salmon fry 
Truly is as wonderful." 

"The green grass of the meadow, 
The sweet flowers of the hillside, 
The leaf, the tree burr and the ripe fruit 
Speak a creation strange and mysterious 
As the great theme of the universe." 

" The bird comes, and its anthem 
Rejoices our heart for a moment, 
The beast is, and its gambols 
Pleases us by the possession." 

" The bird flies and we kill it, 

The beast flees and we slay it; 

Can we return the life we have taken ? 

Life is a mystery — solve it, and be the Creator." 

" When the babe comes, will it utter — 

On the planet Mars I lived a lifetime ? 

On a moon of Sirius I dwelt, and my choosing 

Made me thy offspring ? ' ' 

"When the breath leaves the body, 
And the heart cools, will the spirit 



3?0 THK TRIUMPH OF I.1FE. 

Speak to the weeping ones — 

Mine is a kingdom, now I behold it? " 

* 'Question, O men, can ye decipher the problem? 

Pierce the night of the past, and utter— 

I have lived forever; 

Penetrate the mists of the future, and say— - 

I am eternal. 

Solve it, O wise man, and truly 

Thou art Creator/ ' 

" Think as we will, we know only this — 
We are living, and the green grass is livings 
And we with the herb and the fruit tree 
Stand in our portion; 
Yet, the fact of our living is triumph, 
And the beauty, the glory of being, 
Is triumph on triumph through kingdoms 
eternal. " 

I paused : The song of the forest stilled, 
For my spirit roamed in the ages, 

When the bleak Karth worked, and the elements? 
Rushed on each other in battle. 

My soul sang with the surges grinding the 

cliffside, 
And the whirlwinds lashing the precipice; 
With the thunderings rending the heavens. 
And the mad fire bursting the mountains, 

II Rush, O ye cliffs on each other ! 
Grind unto atoms crystals within thee ! 



- THE TRIUMPH OF UFF. 3 II 

Rage, O ye storm winds, beat the mad waters, 
Slaves of thine own — of thine own ! 
Bid them to toil that the islands arising, 
Mold in fertility." 

mi Break O ye mountains asunder ! 
Let the red rivers flow downward; 
Let the fumes arise when the torrent finds the 

new enemy, 
Let the vapors rush with the tempest, 
Beating the hillsides, till the rich land flows in 

the valleys, 
Waiting the hour of production." 

Then I saw the mountains rise, and the fire river 

flow, 
And the great cliffs battle together; 
Summer and winter came and went 
As the cycles passed, and the sunlight 
Toiled with the elements — toiled without ceasing, 
Till the round Earth rolled in its grandeur. 

The ant worked, and the ant hill 

Waited the seed time; 

The beaver toiled, and the beaver dam 

Gave the rich harvest, and the tall trees 

Grew on the trunks of the fallen, 

And the autumn leaves fed the young tendrils. 

The beast died, and the desert fed on its body, 
And its bones hid in the dry sands; 
But the stars moved in precession, 
And the Earth dipped on its axis, 



312 THE TRIUMPH OF UFE-" 

Till the new land clothed in fertility, 
Chanted the resurrection. 

Then the winds sang to the rivers, 
And the rivers sang to the forest, 
" Hail thee, air and water, 
And the sunlight and the fair land ! 
Let the world behold thy triumph through the 
labor of eons." 

My soul heard the refrain, and it uttered, 

1 ' Why is the new life ? the repose ? the resurrec- 

tion ? 
Ever and ever, as the great world rolls on its axis. 
Life in a chasm falls — 
Life in the darkness plunges, and death is the 

triumph." 

As my soul uttered its sadness, a spirit, 
Fair as the moon in the bright clouds shining, 
Came unto me — sweetly sang unto me. 
By my side she reclined, and caressed me, 
And the glow of her beauty was on me 
Like the light of the moon on the water, 
And her voice was the music of ripples. 

Then she sang in the joy of her being, 

11 Life is a mystery, a mystery, 

But man, the enlightened, is the result, the 

evolvement 
Of the Earth's toiling." 



THE TRIUMPH OF UFE. 313 

" Man is the triumph, the mighty world 
worked for his glory; 

Man is an apex, and loftiness 

Glows on his countenance, and his soul is illu- 
mined with grandeur." 

<c The mighty man is king, and the mandate — 
Take and overthrow — toil and replenish, 
Hails him the conquerer; 
He, the majestic, stands in his portion, 
And the Earth rolls in subjection." 

* * Life through the eons toiled that Divinity 

dwells in the mortal ; 
Man is the citadel on the height standing, 
He is a summit crowned by the heavens, 
And the glory of life is upon him." 

' l The land yields to his arm, 

And the ocean carries his burden; 

The lightning toils at his spindle, 

And the torrent is whirling his millstone." 

"The valleys yield up their riches, 
The deep sea gives up its treasures, 
The desert drinks, and refreshened, 
Finds him a harvest." 

'* The mountain sleeps, and he binds it, 
The forest falls at his mandate, 
The meadow slumbers in fallow, 
Awaiting the tilling." 



3*4 THE TRIUMPH OF I.IFK. 

" Unto the sunlight he utters: — Come in my 

windows; 
To the dark night, — Keep from my footsteps. 
The tempest, baffled, flees from his fortress, 
And the earthquake wakes not his slumber. 
Where are the Titans — the awful ones ? 
They are the elements — slaves of his loftiness.*' 

" He measures the orbits of planets, 

He numbers the stars, and their elements 

Glow in his spectrum; 

He tells the eclipse, and the comet comes not 

stranger, 
And the rolling Earth sings in her orbit, — 
Well have I toiled — I have toiled for his glory, 
And my great reward is his triumph." 

I questioned : "Thinkest thou man so majestic? 

Is he so wonderful ? 

Let the thunder roll, and he trembles, 

And the storm wind covers him ever; 

The heat ot the desert will blast him, 

And his desolate tomb is the ice field ; 

Like the beast of the forest he dies, 

And the green grass feeds on his body." 

Answered the spirit: " Men are here but a 

moment, 
But man is forever. 

He, the collective, smites with a strong arm, 
He, the incorporate, rolls like a billow; 
Never a cliffside is shattered by shower and 

sunshine, 



THE TRIUMPH OF UFE. 315 

Never a mountain is riven by waters when 

stagnant; 
Only the rush of the surge cleaves the straight 

line, 
Grinding the boulders, and molding the path of 

progression." 

il Men are as drops of the wave 
Toiling unceasing; 

Each is a part of one body — the total, united, 
Forms the great billow of action forcing man 
upward." 

*' Truly thy body is nothing, 

If naught is the body collective; 

Truly thy spirit is naught, if the spirit incorporate 

Toils not united — knows not progression. 

The glory of being is gone, if only chaotic 

Scatters the billow of life — 

Life is a farce, the drama of living 

Mime upon mime in madness forever, 

If in one channel life's wave is not rolling 

On the bleak ledges before it." 

Pondering, I questioned : " Where is my 

triumph ? 
I who have toiled for my grandeur, 
I who have worked for my glory ; 
Where is my fame ? my wealth ? my happiest 

moment, — 
If no reward is my own ? ' ' 

Answered the spirit: " If for thyself thou art 



319 THE TRIUMPH OF UFK. 

toiling, 
Fame is thy darkness, wealth thy corruption, 
Glory thy midnight — 
And thy reward is the grass which feeds on thy 

body. 
Only as far as thy labor ennobles the human, 
Only as far as thy wealth enriches thy neighbor, 
Only as far as thy happiness makes man the 

happier, 
Will thy reward be awaiting." 

" Life is a billow, where the fair cresting 

Rides but a moment, 

Backward it slides and is scattered ; 

Down in the depths 'mid the whirling of sands 

and the madness, 
In the rotations, upheavals, toiling in darkness, 
Drops there commingled are urging it unto the 

grotto 
Where it will rumble its triumph." 

" Be thou a spark on the cresting, 

Be thou a drop in its bosom, 

Thou art rewarded only by what is accomplished 

Bearing man onward and upward." 

"Gaze on the stars, and mark the great circle 

of Saturn, 
Measure the orbit of Venus, 
Note the aphelion of planets, 

And thou wilt find the precision ruling the heavens. 
Varying never, moving forever, 



THE TRIUMPH OF UFE. 317 

Alcyone turns in the Pleiades, 

And the fair Earth moves in its system; 

Only in order, in unison, rolls the great universe — 

Toils the great universe, solving its problem 

eternal, 
Forcing life onward and upward." 

"There is a future, when the mighty man 

Stands on the pinnacle; 

There is a future when his grandeur 

Approaches its zenith: 

Then the heavens will glow in their radiance, 

And the clouds flee away from the splendor; 

Then the sea will be sweet, for his learning 

Will make it like streams in the mountains." 

" Then the beast will find not a shelter, 
And the thorn will be cast in the furnace, 
And the tempest will play like the zephyr, 
And the winter will sleep in its cavern." 

"Man will speak to the elements, and they will 

obey him, 
And his arm will know not of toiling; 
Then wars will be no more, and riches be a 

corruption, 
For gold will robe the body, 
And truths will alone be spoken." 

"Then mind will commune with mind, 
Though the oceans may part them, 
And the soul which lights the countenance 
Will be read by the stranger." 



3lB THE TRIUMPH OF LIFE. 

" There is a future when the noble man 
Stands on the pinnacle; 

Unto the sun he speaks, — I solve thy problem ! 
Unto the heavens he utters, — I know thy dwellers! 
Death has delivered up its mystery, 
And life no more is a secret; 
And the spirit sings in its loftiness, — 
Hail Thee, the the Mighty God ! I move in Thy 
presence." 

" Then the angels of Heaven will answer, — 
Hail thee, noble man, crowned with thy glory ! 
Hail thee, majestic man, robed with thy grandeur! 
Hail thee ! Sublimity glows on thy countenance: — 
Well have we toiled — we have toiled for thy 

loftiness — 
Live in thy triumph." 

Softly I answered : "I am here but a moment, 
Soon will my senses sleep on the waters, 
Scatter like bubbles bursting and fading forever; 
Vain is my longing for Aidenn — the portals 

immortal 
Never for me will be opened — never my soul 
Dwells in the gardens eternal." 

11 Soon will my spirit sleep on the waters, 

Scatter like leaves which are drifting 

Far from the shore; 

It will awaken — awaken to-morrow, 

Yet, I am drifting in darkness 

Far from the shore — 



THE TRIUMPH OF I/IFF. 319 

For I'm a drop on the billow ebbing, awaiting 
Turn of the tide, and its anger beating the shore." 

Answered the spirit : "All is before thee; 

Think not of darkness when sunlight is shining, 

Think not of death with life in thee glowing; 

Never thy soul will be scattered, 

Never thy spirit will slumber; 

Only thy body will sleep— thy spirit, undying, 

Toils through dominions eternal. " 

" There is a future when the freed soul 

Stands on the pinnacle; 

There is a future when a brightness supernal 

Glows in its being; 

Then it sings in that hour of its gladness, — 

"* Hail thee, the new life ! 

For the sun and the moon are forgotten, 

And the stars lost in the firmament." 

4< For the voice of the forest is stilled, 
And the rippling of water is silent; 
For the Earth will fade in the glory, 
And the joy of the resurrection beam on the 
pilgrim." 

" Forth he will go robed in a body incorruptible; 

Forth he will go crowned with a halo, 

And his countenance will light up his pathway." 

" His soul will be read like a book when the 
pages 



,20 THE TRIUMPH OF UFE. 

Look on the sunlight. 

His kinsmen will read what is written, 

And the angels will sing in their gladness, — 

Thine is the book, and thine is the writing, 

Without a spot or a blemish 

Now we behold thee." 

" Then a song will arise — as he listens 

To the music of angels, his being 

Thrilled with the glory within him. shouts with 

the chorus, — 
11 I am immortal." 

Then a new world nears, and the gold of the 

dawning 
Glows in the firmament; 
The the new comes, and the radiant beauty 
Shines in his countenance; 
He enters the gates of the blessed, 
And he sings in the gardens of Aidenn, 
For the glory of life is upon him — 
Yet, the triumph of life, the unending, 
Still is before him." 



Think not thou art condemned by one mistake, 
Oft whole a thing a careful patch will make; 
Repair thy soul as else thou wouldst repair, 
And of another rent to it beware : 
Be brave, mistakes a common lot we find — 
But deeds of love heal body, soul and mind. 



MISCELLANEOUS, 321 

THE FROG. 

The beams beneath the distant west were fading, 
As tawny gold tinged with a deeper hue 
Soft lit the silent hills. The mists, evading 
The slanting rays crept up and tinged anew 
A scene of summer twilight, for the sun had passed 
from view. 

The moon arose — a many arrowed quiver, 

The silvery points were darting through the sky, 

And like the sheen upon a sunlit river, 

They fell upon the waving meadow by, 

And lit the roadside and the rolling hillocks nigh. 

From out a hedge two tiny dots were shining, 

And came a plaintive note — 'twas sung for me, 

A weird and rhythmless number: Then reclining, 

I waited there that wondrous thing to see, 

And to the roadside leaped a frog with merry glee. 

I know it, for approaching it was smiling, 

As glanced its eyes up where the fair moon shone; 

A glance so soft, so seemingly beguiling, 

I also smiled, and will not now disown 

We seemed companions in that moonlit world alone. 

I stroked it gently, for I had a feeling 

That we were kin, perhaps, from mother clay; 

But then, my soul within me soon revealing 

My dignity, I brushed it quick away; 

Could lordly life such lowly creatures notice pay ? 



322 MISCELLANEOUS. 

It gave a croak so filled with plaintive sadness, 
My heart was softened ; thus I said again, — 
Come back, wee one, and let thy song of gladness 
O'erfill the moonlit roadside and the plain, 
I would commune with thee — my words were only 
vain; 

For down the way there came a mirthful clatter, 
And whirled a carriage through the dust upthrown; 
As in the distance stilled the quickening patter, 
Amid the roadside cloud I heard a moan, 
And once again did seek my rudeness to atone. 

There lay the frog, no more its notes, so cheerful, 
Were to awake an echo o'er the mead, 
And I the cause; yet, could my soul, though tearful, 
Bring back the being dim? My heart did plead, 
As sadly down I bent that fainting cry to heed. 

It saw me and then sought to flee away, 
But gave a shudder, and was ever still; 
No more its eyes beamed with a gleeful ray, 
No more a throbbing heart a life did thrill — 
'Twas dead — a clod remained for man's own selfish 
will. 

Within my hand I placed it, gently laid 
The bleeding form upon the wayside green; 
It cringed not, and no more was it afraid, 
Nor did it nestle at my side serene, 
For death had come and placed a bar our paths 
between. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 323 

I mused in thought; the silken lines I pressed, 

No human art could form their blended hue 

So perfect in repose, yet, I caressed 

An unlit lamp, whose light a strange wind blew 

I knew not where — though it was ever gone I knew. 



WILDS OF OREGON. 



Ye tinted hills above the wooded plain, 

Reflect the sunbeams on the breaking main; 

Ye hoary peaks, august, in muteness stand, 

As watchful sentries, guard our noble land : 

O storm bound cliffs and precipices bare, 

O verdant dales and flowering ridges fair, 

Retell thy river's ever joyous theme, 

Thy sylvan wild in grandeur is supreme. 

When vernal spring thy rolling valley lines 

With blossoms sweet and fragrant creeping vines, 

And flees the greyness from the breaking dawn, 

The wildwood wakes in gladness and in song; 

The squirrels, chattering, play on bush and tree, 

The timid deer pursues its pathway free, 

And larks and robins sing their morning lays 

While tinge the hilltops with the brightening rays; 

Then sparkling diamonds seem the glistening dew 

And fairy land bursts on the raptured view. 

Thy lofty pines, and crystal fountains fair, 

Thy sunny slopes and flowers without compare, 

Thy waterfalls encrowned with sunlit spray, 

And plunging torrents charm our lingering way. 



,24 MISCELLANEOUS. 

Across the waving fields of gray and green, 

And placid lakes enrobed with shade and sheen, 

By vine clad crag, through canyon, vale and glade, 

How sweet to stray and rest within the shade; 

Yet, dearer are thy cliffs and ledges high, 

And snow clad mountains towering in the sky; 

No drifting cloud their glory has defiled, 

No shroud but night has marred their grandeur wild, 

The glaciers rumbling down their broken way 

Defy the cliffs which bid their course to stay, 

And jewelled halls, and lofty icy spires, 

Glow with the hues of many colored fires. 

Wilds of Oregon, dear blue tinted hills, 

Grand hoary mountains, and sweet babbling rills, 

Blest is the one who strays among thy deeps 

Of sylvan wild where care forever sleeps. 



THE LONE GRAVE. 

All alone is a grave in the Blue hills wild, 
'Neath the pines which pink the skies, 

And the rocks around are rudely piled 
Where one forgotten lies. 

There the starlight keeps a vigil still, 
Ahd the zephyr softly strays 

And hears the chant of the murmuring rill, 
And the song birds' matin lays. 

The gray wolf howls there in the night, 
Where the timid deer will glide, 



MISCELLANEOUS. 325 

And the antelope gaze from the grassy height 
On the morning's golden tide. 

But they disturb not one who rests 

Within a lowly bed, 
He sleeps, in nature's robings dressed, 

Forever with the dead. 

And though, no one the mound may keep, 

The wildwood's charms adorn; 
About the dainty vinings creep, 

And the sweetest flowers are born, 

To bloom among the mountain moss, 

Over which the pine trees wave, 
And wreathe the emblem dear — a cross, 

Which marks alone the grave. 



THE WORM) MOVES ON. 

The mighty world moves on its wa}^ 

Through ether vast 
A trackless path as yesterday, 
And through the coming ages may 

Its circles cast. 

The days gone by are swiftly left 

In sunless space ; 
The memories fond are ever weft 



326 MISCELLANEOUS. 

And fleeting moments swept bereft 
With quickened pace, 

Into forgetful ness, the rust 

Of iron zeal ; 
Yet, as one passes unto dust, 
Another in his place is thrust 

For ill or weal. 

The passing world of life moves on, 

Nor seeks to stay; 
But, rising with the break of dawn, 
Is in the whirling maelstrom drawn 

Of life's strange way. 

Yet ivy twines, and violets bloom, 

Sweetly to wave, 
And with their loveliness illume 
The solemn stillness of the gloom 

About the grave. 

And with the throngs which hasten by 

Is pity fair, 
While sweetly comes a whispered sigh. 
As pauses one to question why 

Is misery there. 

It is the gleam of love, which breaks 

On life's wild sea, 
And though the world its circles makes 
In cloud and night, as love awakes 

Is man more free. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 3 2 7 

SONG OF THK WILDS. 

When the sunbeams slowly fade 

'Neath the western sea, 
And the falling twilight shade 
Day's deserted realms invade, 
Covering hill and lea, 
I hear a voice in joyous melody. 

O'er the pebbles softly glides 

The low babbling stream; 
In the sylvan grove abides 
Musings of the limpid tides, 
Beneath the alder's green, 
And sweetly leaflets answer to the theme. 

With the low wind softly flows 

Harmonies of sound, 
And the meadow autumn strows 
With the leaf which falls and glows 

In golden hues around, 
And scatters merry anthems on the ground. 

As the blending sunlit rain 

Brightens dreary hours, 
So an ever glad refrain 
Tells the day is not in vain 

Beneath the forest bowers, 
For sunny music ripples from the flowers. 

Can the moments cheerless be, 
When a joyous song 



328 MISCELLANEOUS. 

From the covert, hill and lea 
Welcomes with its harmony, 
And bids to us belong 
Delightful hours with nature's happy 
throng. 



THE FISHERMAN. 



Over the sand bars rolls the swift river, 
Sweeping the boulders by the cliff's lea; 
Winding, widening, onward it ever 

Hides in the deep moaning sea. 
Over the cliffsides the haze of the ocean 
Rises as passes the day to its sleep; 
Sullenly, gravely the angry commotion 

Comes — 'tis the voice of the deep. 

Dipping, racing, the boats from the offing 
Seeming like sea birds, lean with the sails; 
Fearless, dauntless, the boatmen are scoffing 

Signs of the bleak southern gales; 
Dashes the spray from the bows, and the surges 
Lash the lithe forms in the teeth of the wind; 
Bravely, gaily the fisherman urges 

His boat from his rival behind. 

Ring the loud songs of the toilers' devotion, 
By the bleak island the fleet pinions white 
Swinging anear the mad waves of the ocean, 
At anchor will wait for the night; 



MISCELLANEOUS. 329 

Then as the cloud-rifts awaken the starlight, 
Mirroring gleams in the sublunar skies, 
Over the billows the lone guiding farlight 
Bright^ enkindles and dies. 

Echo the rappings, I hear the low shifting, 
Fisher and boatman behold the glad hour; 
Soon the lone vessels are silently drifting, 

Darkly above the clouds lower. 
Swiftly the tide to the sullen lines bears them, 
Nearer, nearer they hear the surf's roar; 
Dauntless the boatmen, an instant prepares them 

To strive for the low island shore. 



Rising, advancing, the surf in its raging 
Sounds the dread knell, like a demon it seems; 
Night with her thunders is the ocean engaging, 

Warfare the shrill tempest screams; 
But the flood tide to the rescue advances, 
Vain is the might of the tempest so ill, 
As the lithe boat on the white billow dances, 

There is a moment of skill. 

At the lone cove, or the low island's mooring, 
Resting at morn will the fisherman be, 
Waiting the hour of the toil so illuring, 

Daunting the ill of the sea; 
Soon is forgotten the hour of the danger, 
Calm is the water and fair are the skies, 
And with the evening again the swift ranger 

Over the wide river flies. 



330 MISCELLANEOUS. 



THE DYING FAWN. 

Many a sylvan arbor finds 
Sadness 'neath its waving vines, 
And the blossoms, although fair, 
Sometime must at sorrow stare ; 
Sometime hear the fainting moan, 
As a creature dies alone, 
All alone, although there be 
Witness to its misery. 
On a mountain's o'erbranched way 
Softly rose the robin's lay, 
Gently down the trickling rill 
Poured its murmurs o'er the hill; 
Where the zephyr softly strows 
Odors of the mountain rose, 
Joyous I a pathway strayed 
Leading down into the glade; 
Then I heard the angry bay 
Of a hound upon the way, 
From the copse in terror sprang 
Forth a fawn, while loudly rang 
O'er the hills a rumbling sound, 
Echoing in its wrath profound. 
On the fawn with swiftness came, 
Crimson drops the sward did stain, 
Until with a piteous bleat 
Helpless fell it at my feet. 
Beep there came that bay again, 
And it strove to rise in vain ; 
Silent there I saw it lie, 
Panting, fainting, soon to die, 



MISCELLANEOUS. 33 l 

When a huntsman into view 
Quickly came, and eager, drew 
From his sheath a knife to slay 
Heartlessly his fallen prey. 
Piteously it glanced at me, 
Gave a moan of agony, 
And for life did vainly strive 
As the knife its side did rive; 
Then its soul poured forth a cry 
As a broken heart might sigh, 
And its glance the slayer's met, 
As its blood the sward did wet; 
That one glance, though not at me, 
Ne'er again I wish to see, 
Like the haunting of a dream 
Unto me it now does seem, 
Like the never dying wail 
Of a seaman, as a gale 
Sweeps him far away to sea, 
Comes that mute and woeful plea. 
Down upon the path it laid, 
Silent 'neath the fragrant shade. 
And it heard no passing sigh 
Of the winds as it did die, 
Heard no whisper of a leaf 
To another of its grief, 
But the birds their anthems stilled; 
Joy- no more the wayside filled; 
Only man, the slayer he, 
Gloated o'er that misery. 
As I wandered down the way, 
Clouds o'erclad a fairest day, 
Clouds unseen, save, unto me, 



332 MISCELLANEOUS. 

And I could not joyous be, 
For I knew that of all life, 
Man did lead in heedless strife. 



ON OCEAN'S STRAND. 

On ocean's strand I long to be, 

The racing of the waves to see, 

With nature's beauty charming me; 

Sweet hour of quiet is the way 

Which cheers the lingering steps each day. 

The slanting stretch of glistening sand, 

The silent dunes, the thundering strand, 

And rugged crag and mossy lane, 

And rocks arising from the main; 

The stately trees which robe the hills, 

The tide swept streams and babbling rills, 

The ocean winds, the zephyr's sigh, 

The sea birds darting, wheeling by, 

Give never ceasing joy to me 

Amid a world of harmony. 



IF WE SAY NOT NAY. 

Lonely steps may know not pleasure, 
Though in paths of flowery shade, 
Burdened hearts may find not leisure, 
Though within a fairy glade; 



MISCELLANEOUS. 333 

Yet, soft words have sorrows lifted, 
Like the break of morn have rifted 
Clouds which did invade. 

Often will the wild savanna 
Know the blossoms dainty ray, 
And the cherished fall of manna 
We find on a desert way; 
Merry eyes will often greet us, 
Happy smiles will ever meet us, 
If we say not nay. 



THK PAINTING IN THE LAKE- 

Fair is the hour the morn of love awakes 
In roseate tints across the youthful skies, 
When glides our shallop on life's rippling lakes 
By light of merry eyes. 

Dear is the hour when noontide's ray we see 
Upon the placid water cast its sheen, 
If nestling love within the cove may be, 
The fond gallant and queen. 

Sweet is the hour ere falls the twilight's grey, 
And golden sunset lingers o'er the shade, 
When man and wife pass down the even way 
Which youthful footsteps made. 



334 MISCELLANEOUS. 

Back through the past our thoughts will look, 

and find 
Some faded blossom pressed in memory's leaves, 
Some trivial hour, yet, now a flower entwined 
In the wreath life only weaves. 

And now my thoughts retrace, and paint a tree 
With branches bending o'er the water deep, 
Where with my love I climbed, aloft e to be, 
The trysting hour to keep. 

There as we passed that hour of youth's own weal, 
I said, " My love, beneath what painting lies?" 
She answered : " Tis a beauty that must steal 
The tintings of the skies;" 

"And blended shadows, deep and fair are they, 
Like the mirages of a distant grove 
Slow drifting by the cliffs which bid them stay; 
I would among them rove." 

I asked, "What else encharms my youthful 

glance? " 
She answered : " Naught, save, crags we see 

above, 
Which in a waving mirror seem to dance." 
I thought — not so, my love. 

My painting was, perhaps, trivial thing, 
A little lace, and else, inverted on 
The mirror of the water where did swing 
My love, my own sweet one. 



miscellaneous. 335 



To my Friends : — A poet without a reputation is 
not a poet any more than a light encompassed by a fog 
is a light. Each may glory in their own luster, but the 
world will not remark of their brightness. I have been 
shining in my own room for a number of years, still my 
nearest neighbors have not acknowledged that any unus- 
ual brilliance has emanated therefrom. This collection 
is my first published, but only a part of my writings, as 
I have omitted most of my long poems, and a number of 
the short ones. Those omitted have been placed in the 
care of A. F. Flegel, and if he sees fit to have them pub- 
lished, he may do so; but my own time will be occupied 
with new work which I hope will make my spare hours 
pass swiftly and pleasantly. There are many typograph- 
ical errors in this volume, the reason of which will some- 
time be explained, and I ask that my readers do not 
criticise this book on that account, but otherwise do their 
own sweet will. My future does not depend on public 
appreciation of this book, but on the time I will have to 
accomplish my future work, already mapped out. This 
is to write a volume, modelled somewhat after the " Tri- 
umph of Life," herein published. I have arrived at this 
conclusion after meditation, and for this reason. My 
first writings consisted of a series of tales, called " Tales 
by the Camp Fire," but completing them, I discovered 
they were along the usual lines of lyrical romances and 
cast them aside; then reading that the long poem was 
out of date, and wishing to be up to the times, I wrote 
most of the short verse appearing in this volume, but 
it did meet my expectations, so I prepared the collection 
called " Drifting Sands." On asking an opinion of them 
from an editor, I was told they were ' ' thoughts clothed 



3$6 MISCELLANEOUS. 

in rags." This was the first real compliment paid my 
writings, and I began to realize that my style of verse 
was becoming original, if nothing else; then the desire 
to please became uppermost, and I composed several 
rather lengthy pieces, and wrote one thousand lines of 
a blank verse poem to have been called "Armageddon." 
This last I referred to an esteemed friend for an opinion, 
who said it was an imitation of the writings of the seven- 
teenth century. That ended forever my desire to please 
anyone from a poetic standpoint, and I began a series of 
poems, two of which, the "Song of the Soul " and the 
" Triumph of Ivife " appear in this volume. If my read- 
ers say these are imitations, I may be compelled to seek 
a different measure ; but if they say they are ' ' rags, ' ' 
then I will write serene, knowing the literary critic has 
struck a stump, and that his cherished model is threat- 
ened with disruption. 

VALENTINE BROWN. 
Portland, Oregon, 1900. 




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